This recipe for lemon posset elevates the well-known, much loved old-English pudding by adding a layer of smooth blackberry sauce. It is quick and easy to prepare and results in a pretty and dreamy creamy dessert.
Try serving small rounds of lemon shortbread cookies to dip into your posset.
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I’ve seen various possets on pub menus for years. I’ve read about it being an old-English dessert. But it’s taken me until recently to try out a lemon posset recipe.
Of course, I fell instantly for this lively yet indulgent dessert. In fact, I fell so hard that I decided to add my own spin to the classic and came up with this recipe for lemon posset with blackberry sauce.
If, like me, you have both a sweet tooth and a soft squidgy spot for all things creamy, I’m sure you’ll love this recipe too. It’s a great option for afternoon tea.
Not in the mood for fruity flavours? I’ve got deliciously creamy pots of Baileys chocolate mousse, mini tiramisu cups and a coffee, caramel & chocolate pot to tempt you instead.
What is Lemon Posset?
The original posset, c1600, was a warm drink made from curdled milk, sugar and alcohol and was taken as a medicine for the curing of colds and fevers.
Luckily, this rather unappealing concoction underwent numerous refinements over several centuries, eventually morphing into a much more appetising dessert made with sweetened cream and thickened by acidic fruit.
It’s one dessert that has endured the test of time, and, since it is still popular to this day, the posset really does rank as an old-English classic.
The most common flavour is lemon posset. It is a rather enchanting pudding that comes together almost by magic from nothing more than sugar, cream, and lemon juice.
Recipes are knocking around for orange, lime and grapefruit possets too.
These days our possets are marvellously rich chilled desserts. A good posset will taste undeniably creamy yet with a fresh & zesty tartness alongside. It will have a thick & sublimely silky texture.
Ingredients notes
In it’s simplest form a lemon posset recipe contains just 3 ingredients:
- Double cream (or heavy cream)
- Sugar
- Lemon juice
I’ve included lemon zest in my recipe too, since this serves to heighten the citrus flavour and helps give the dessert a subtle yellow hue.
I’ve also taken my recipe for lemon posset a step further by including a smooth blackberry sauce on the top.
This sauce is comprised of just blackberries, sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.
The combination of blackberry and lemon pudding is luscious. And visually, this inclusion really lifts the humble posset dessert. I recommend serving with a fresh blackberry and a sprig of mint on the top.
How to Make Lemon Posset
Good news. The base recipe for lemon posset takes mere minutes to pull together. Around 10, to be precise.
And the sauce is equally simple to prepare. Just keep in mind that the posset must be allowed to set before the compote is spooned on top.
Make the Posset
- Put the cream, sugar and lemon zest into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently
- When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat slightly and allow the cream to simmer for around 3 minutes – it will bubble up in the pan. Stir constantly at this stage and do not let the cream boil over
Do not be tempted to turn the heat to high since cooking too quickly can spoil the cream and it may split
- After boiling gently for 3 minutes, take the pan off the heat – the cream will have thickened very slightly
- Let cool for 2 minutes, then pour in the lemon juice, stiring it in quickly. The cream will thicken significantly at this point and will easily coat the back of a wooden spoon
- Let the posset cool slightly, then pour into ramekins or serving glasses ( I transfer mine to a jug to make pouring into small glasses easier)
- Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and transfer to the fridge to set for 2-3 hours
Note: Do take care if using delicate glassware since filling with hot posset can lead to it cracking. I used thin, vintage glasses and let my posset cool to around 50C/ 120F before decanting into them. It was still loose enough to pour at this temperature.
Make the Blackberry Sauce
Once the posset has set, we can make the blackberry sauce
- Put the berries (fresh or frozen) into a small pan with the sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice
- Cook gently, stirring often, to allow the sugar to dissolve, breaking down the berries using the back of a wooden spoon as they cook
- Bring up to a simmer and let cook until the temperature on a food thermometer reads between 102-105C/ 215-221F
- Take off the heat and push through a fine-meshed sieve to remove the seeds. Don’t forget to scrape the underside of the sieve at the end
- Give the strained sauce a stir then spoon a little over each serving of posset
- Let cool then transfer to the fridge to firm up for at least 1 hour
Note: I used my Thermapen digital food thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature of the posset before pouring into the glassware and again to ensure the sauce was boiled sufficiently.
Frequently asked questions
It is certainly possible to make the lemon posset part of this recipe up to 2 days in advance. Keep it covered and stored in the fridge.
Whilst you could make the whole dessert, blackberry layer included, several days in advance, I recommend adding the blackberry layer on the day of serving. If made a day or so in advance, there is a risk that the sauce may bleed down into the dessert.
As my images show, this can look attractive. And it certainly won’t harm the flavour or texture of the overall dessert. However, for the ultimate in neatness, adding the sauce on the day of serving reduces this risk.
This recipe for lemon posset can be stored for 3-4 days in the fridge. Bring out 30 minutes before serving to just take the chill off of it.
It is possible to freeze lemon posset. Simply cover and store in the freezer for up to 1 month, then defrost before eating. A few cracks may appear, but these can easily be covered up with fruit, cream or compote.
I don’t, however, recommend freezing the blackberry sauce. It can go watery once defrosted, which will spoil this dessert. For this reason, if intending to freeze this dessert from the outset, do not add the sauce layer. Just make the base lemon posset recipe and freeze at this point.
When defrosted, add a drizzle of freshly made blackberry sauce and allow to set for an hour in the fridge. Alternatively, serve with a few fresh blackberries on top. It will help cover up any cracks that emerge as a result of the freezing process.
When freezing posset, do use suitable freezer-proof pots to decant the posset into.
Variations
If you are short of time try making the lemon posset recipe without the blackberry sauce. It can be served as follows:
- garnished with fresh blackberries (or raspberries)
- with a little whipped cream and toasted almond slices
- with crunchy biscuits, such as thin shortbreads, alongside
Find more lemon recipes
Have you made this recipe for lemon posset? Please let me know if you enjoyed it by leaving a review.
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Lemon Posset with Blackberry Sauce
Ingredients
For the Posset
- 400 ml/ 1 12/3 cups Double cream Heavy cream
- 125 g/ ⅔ cup Caster sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon finely grated
- 60 ml/ ¼ cup Lemon Juice
For the Sauce
- 200 g/ 7 oz Blackberries fresh or frozen
- 5 ml Lemon juice
- 100 g/ ½ cup Granulated sugar
Instructions
Make the Posset
- Put the cream, sugar and lemon zest into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently
- When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat slightly and allow the cream to simmer for around 3 minutes – it will bubble up in the pan. Stir constantly at this stage and do not let the cream boil over. Do not be tempted to turn the heat to high – rapid boiling can casue the cream to split
- After boiling gently for 3 minutes, take the pan off the heat – the cream will have thicken very slightly
- Let cool for 2 minutes, then pour in the lemon juice, stirring it in quickly. The cream will thicken significantly at this point and will easily coat the back of a wooden spoon
- Let the posset cool slightly, then transfer to a jug and pour into ramekins or serving glasses (see notes)
- Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and transfer to the fridge to set for 2-3 hours
Make the Blackberry Sauce
- Put the berries (fresh or frozen) into a small pan with the sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice
- Cook gently, stirring often, to allow the sugar to dissolve, breaking down the berries using the back of a wooden spoon as they cook
- When the sugar has dissolved, bring up to a simmer and let cook until the temperature on a food thermometer reads between 102-105C/ 215-221F
- Take off the heat and push through a fine-meshed sieve to remove the seeds. Don't forget to scrape the underside of the sieve at the end
- Give the strained sauce a stir then spoon a little over each serving of posset
- Let cool then transfer to the fridge to firm up for at least 1 hour
Susan
Three cheers for the posset itself … delicious! But the blackberry sauce left a lot to be desired. In trying to get it to reach a minimum of 215 degrees, the seeds burned onto the pan, and I was stirring almost constantly. Then I strained the sauce as directed, and put it in the refrigerator, planning to soften it up for serving the next day. But it was next to impossible to use, having become quite hard in the frig. I tried to stir and soften it in the microwave to no avail. I ended up putting it on top of the posset but there wasn’t enough of it to form a “layer.” In short, I’d do the posset again, but forget about the sauce!
Jane Coupland
Hi Susan, thanks for your feedback. I’m pleased that you enjoyed the posset, but sad to hear that you had trouble with the blackberry sauce. To be honest, cooking the fruit to 102C/ 215F isn’t uncommon if you think about making jams and fruit sauces in general, so I’m at a loss as to why you found your seeds burning on the pan as it cooked, especially as you were stirring it (stirring often is required). My only thought would be whether the temperature on the hob was too high – it needs to be a gentle heat to allow the fruit to cook and sugar to dissolve for form a jammy sauce, if you like.
The sauce is ready to spoon over the posset as soon as it has been strained, so it would be harder to spread over the posset if it had been in the fridge cooling and setting.
I guess the size of the glassware used might mean that in some cases there isn’t enough sauce to cover the possets, so I’ll do some measuring of the glasses I used and pop this into the post to help future readers.
Again, thanks for your feedback – I’m off to find those glasses & give them a measure.
Lauren
lovely recipe , thank you
Jane Coupland
Thank you Lauren – pleased you enjoyed it 🙂
Pam H
Hi there,
I made these yesterday and all seemed to go well, but when I looked at them today it appears they’ve separated. It looks liquid-eee on the bottom and solidified on the top. ??? Did I over cook it? Can I give it a stir and mix it up?
Thanks,
Pam
Jane Coupland
That sounds unusual… it seems that unusually sour lemons could cause this, but giving it a stir should sort the posset out… have you put the topping on yet? Try spooning it off, discarding any parts that mingle between the topping and the posset, then re-assemble as neatly as possible.
Tamara Andersen
I find so much fascinating information on your blog Jane. It’s always fun! This lemon posset has definitely caught my attention as I’m definitely a sucker for a creamy dessert with a bit of tang! Bravo!
Jane Saunders
Thankyou so much! And yeah, anything creamy is my downfall….