This lemon posset recipe is simple to make with 4 components! Much like a pudding, it is creamy, brilliant, and refreshing. A scrumptious make-ahead dessert!

Have you ever tried lemon posset? It’s a brilliant, creamy 4-ingredient deal with I’ll be making all spring. A traditional British dessert, lemon posset is much like a custard or a pudding, but it surely doesn’t require eggs or cornstarch to arrange. It’s simple to make with heavy cream, recent lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla. Candy and citrusy, it’s such a refreshing option to finish a meal!
This simple lemon posset recipe can be an ideal dessert for spring events like Easter and Mom’s Day. It’s nice for entertaining as a result of you may make it forward, and it seems to be so elegant in little glasses or hollowed-out lemon halves. High it off with recent berries and sprigs of mint for a recent, zesty deal with that may delight everybody on the desk.

What’s posset?
Posset is a calming, pudding-like dessert made with boiled cream and citrus juice. The acid within the citrus helps the cream arrange and tackle a thick, velvety texture.
It developed from a medicinal drink that dates again to the fifteenth century—it’s even referenced in Shakespeare! The unique posset was a heat drink made with curdled milk, wine or ale, and spices. It’s not clear when precisely it turned the creamy, zesty dessert we all know immediately, however when you do this recipe, I feel you’ll be glad it did.
Lemon Posset Components
You want 4 easy components to make this recipe:
- Lemons, after all! You’ll want 1/3 cup recent lemon juice, from 2 to 4 lemons. When you’d prefer to serve the posset in lemon halves, be sure that to scoop out the flesh earlier than squeezing them (see beneath).
- Heavy cream – Make certain to make use of heavy cream or heavy whipping cream, not mild whipping cream, half and half, or milk. Heavy cream’s excessive fats content material is important to assist the posset set.
- Granulated sugar – It provides sweetness and perfects the posset’s thick texture.
- And vanilla extract – I examined this recipe with the vanilla and with out. I beloved the refined heat that it added. So scrumptious!
Discover the whole recipe with measurements beneath.

The way to Make Lemon Cups
Serving posset in citrus cups has been a pattern on social media for the previous couple of years (I’ve seen lemon, lime, and orange!). It’s so cute, and the citrus shells create the right 2-bite servings.
Right here’s how you can make them:
- Slice 4 lemons in half lengthwise.
- Use a paring knife to attain alongside the sting of the juicy flesh, loosening it from the pith.
- Use a spoon and/or your fingers to pry the flesh out of the lemon rind, creating 8 lemon cups.
Don’t let the scooped-out flesh go to waste. Use a citrus squeezer to juice it, or press it right into a fantastic mesh strainer set over a bowl to get sufficient juice for this recipe.
Notice: Making lemon cups is totally elective! It’s also possible to serve the posset in small ramekins or serving glasses.

The way to Make Lemon Posset
After getting your serving dishes prepared, you may make the posset. The method is fast and simple:
Begin by boiling the cream and sugar collectively. This modifications the construction of the proteins within the cream, serving to it thicken and set when mixed with the lemon juice.
Place the cream and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high warmth. Whisk till the sugar dissolves, then deliver to a boil.
Regulate the warmth to maintain the combination at a gradual boil for five minutes.
IMPORTANT: Cream can simply boil over. Watch it intently and scale back the warmth as wanted to keep away from ending up with a sticky mess in your range. (I discovered this the arduous approach.)

After 5 minutes, take away the pan from the warmth. Whisk the lemon juice and vanilla into the cream combination and put aside for quarter-hour to chill.
Stir the posset, then pour it into your required serving dishes or lemon halves. At this level, it’s going to have thickened barely, but it surely received’t be totally set. Switch it to the fridge and chill for at the least 2 hours, or till agency.
Garnish and serve!

The way to Serve Lemon Posset
I like to serve this lemon posset topped with blueberries, raspberries, and recent mint. Lemon zest is a beautiful garnish too.
When you’re serving it in jars, you can additionally make layered parfaits with a bit of strawberry compote or blueberry compote. Serve with shortbread cookies on the aspect, or sprinkle shortbread crumbs or graham cracker crumbs on high.
The way to Make Forward and Retailer
To make forward: Make lemon posset at the least 2 hours, and as much as 2 days, earlier than serving. It retains properly in glass jars with no separation, however we discovered that posset in lemon shells releases liquid over time. It’s greatest eaten inside 1 to 2 days.
To retailer: Retailer leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 5 days.

Extra Favourite Lemon Desserts
When you love this recipe, strive one in every of these citrusy treats subsequent:

Lemon Posset
Serves 8
With a thick, creamy texture and brilliant citrus taste, this lemon posset recipe is a simple, scrumptious dessert! Serve it in small ramekins or glasses, or see the weblog publish above to discover ways to make the lovable lemon cups pictured right here.
Stop your display from going darkish
-
Warmth the cream and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high warmth. Stir till the sugar dissolves, then deliver to a boil.
-
Cut back the warmth to take care of a gradual boil for five minutes, watching intently and decreasing the warmth as wanted to stop the cream from boiling over. Take away from the warmth and stir within the lemon juice and vanilla. Put aside to chill for quarter-hour.
-
Stir the combination, then evenly divide into eight small ramekins or hollowed-out lemon halves. Chill within the fridge for two hours, or till set.
-
Garnish with berries and mint and serve.
