Lemon Surprise

A wonderfully light dessert for autumn! I love anything lemony! Another recipe from my friend Pam, who lives near Hayle.

You will need a well buttered pie dish. This sits in a larger tin, partly filled with hot water [not enough to spill over!] when baking. Place it in your oven while you prep.

2 oz soft butter

4 oz caster sugar

2 large eggs, separated

the grated zest of a large lemon [or 2 small], plus 3 tablespoons of the juice

2 oz SR flour

generous ½ pint whole milk [I would imagine you could use semi skimmed]

In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and zest then stir in the juice. Add the flour then slowly stir in the milk to make a thickish batter. Do not panic if it appears to curdle.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff then fold them into the batter. Turn this into your prepared pie dish and very carefully place it in the larger dish in the oven, on top of the water.

Bake for about 40-45 mins until the sponge is nicely firm and brown. Serve medium warm, with clotted cream or creme fraiche! 

You will then discover why it is called a Surprise!  [it separates, making a sort of creamy gel in the bottom and a spongey topping] check out the photo! 

Delish.

Note: I made this for dessert last Sunday lunchtime, when there were 7 of us. I increased the quantity to half as much again. The above quantity would serve 4-5.