Lemon Sponge Pudding Mary Berry Recipes

LEMON DRIZZLE SPONGE PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a 30 x 20cm deep baking dish.
• Put the butter and 250g caster sugar in a bowl and beat for 5 mins until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs, then sieve over the flour and baking powder and fold in until you have a batter. Stir in the lemon zest, reserving a little for decoration.
• Spoon the sponge batter into the dish and smooth over the top.
• Mix the lemon juice with the cornflour in a heatproof bowl to make a smooth paste. Mix the remaining 130g caster sugar with 300ml boiling water in a jug, pour over the cornflour mix and whisk until smooth. Pour this over the sponge. Bake for 45-50 mins until golden and set, and the sponge springs back when touched.
• While the pudding is baking, make the lemon drizzle. Mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice (about half of it) to create a loose consistency. Drizzle over the sponge while it's still warm and decorate with the reserved lemon zest. Serve straightaway with cream or custard.

LUSCIOUS LEMON PUDDING WITH SUMMER BERRIES

Steps:

• Butter an ovenproof dish and heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Carefully weigh out the butter and sugar into a bowl.
• Finely grate the zest from the lemons. For best results, grate, then turn the lemon a little and grate again, so you just take off the yellow skin rather than the pith below. Halve and squeeze the juice from the lemons - you need 100ml, so make up with a splash of water or more juice.
• Separate the eggs (put the whites in a large, clean bowl), being careful not to get any yolk in with them. Whizz the butter, sugar and zest in a food processor until creamy. Add the juice, whizz again; then, with the motor still running, tip in the yolks, flour and milk to form a smooth batter.
• Whisk the egg whites, preferably with an electric hand whisk, until firm but not stiff. Pour in the lemon batter, then gently fold the 2 mixtures together with a large metal spoon, being light-handed so that you don't knock out all the air from the whites. Don't worry if it looks a bit lumpy.
• Pour the mixture into the buttered dish, then put it in a roasting tin. Pour in a kettle of hot water into the tin so it is half-filled (this is called a bain marie). Ask an adult to help you with this bit. Bake for 35 mins until the top is set and there is a saucy lemon curd below. Use oven gloves to remove it from the oven.
• While the pudding is baking, pull or cut the hulls (the green tops) from the strawberries. Halve or slice them if large. Put in a bowl with the blueberries, then spoon over the cordial or sugar and mix together. Remove the pudding from the tin, dust with icing sugar through a sieve and serve warm or cold, with the berries.