This Lemon Posset with Strawberry Sauce is the perfect easy to make Summer dessert! Light, full of flavour and topped with a homemade sauce, this will become a staple dessert!
Hi guys, I hope you had a good weekend! It’s is HOT in the UK at the moment, so I don’t really want to be turning that oven on if I can help it. Enter this Lemon Posset with Strawberry Sauce! Easy to make, you only need a hob, not an oven and it tastes sublime!
A Lemon Posset is a very traditional English dessert. It used to be a hot drink of milk curdled with alcohol. This was used as a remedy. However, in the 16th century it became a set dessert comprising of cream, sugar and lemon juice. I always used to think they would be difficult to make, but they’re actually really simple. To make the lemon posset itself you only need three ingredients!
You can actually just make the posset and leave off the homemade strawberry sauce. However, I think the sweet strawberry sauce works perfectly to balance out the tart posset.
This particular recipe makes 4 individual sized possets. They are quite rich, so you don’t need a massive serving. If you wanted even smaller servings, then this would easily make 6 servings. This was my first time making them dairy free and they still worked just as well as with normal dairy cream.
You need either double cream or plant based double cream for this recipe. Single cream won’t work as it doesn’t thicken up like double cream does.
The only plant based double cream that is readily available in supermarkets near me is Elmlea. I’ve had really good experiences with it actually. It whips and bakes well and now it sets my lemon possets too! I don’t feel like I have to do anything different with the plant based cream. In fact, when whipped I prefer it to real dairy cream as it’s lighter. Even before I knew I was allergic to dairy, I didn’t like double cream. It leaves a film on my tongue and makes me feel ill. The plant based is much lighter in texture and doesn’t give me that fat coating tongue feeling.
I feel like I have a handle on most dairy free alternatives now, but sometimes things are still an experiment!
HOW TO MAKE A LEMON POSSET WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE…
To begin with, I combined cream and sugar in a deep, medium sized saucepan. I placed it over a medium heat and whisked gently to ensure there were no lumps. It’s important to whisk gently as you don’t want to whip the cream too much.
After stirring and bringing the mixture to a boil, I turned the heat up and boiled vigorously for 2 minutes. It will really bubble up the pan, so keep an eye out for any overflowing! This is why it’s important to use a deep saucepan!
After boiling for 2 minutes, you’ll see that it coats the back of a spoon. It will still be runny, but the consistency will have changed slightly.
Let the mixture settle off the heat for 15-20 seconds before adding the lemon juice in one go. I made sure everything was combined before pouring the mixture into 4 individual sized jars. Leave to cool to room temperature, before putting in the fridge to set properly.
For the strawberry sauce, I made this while the lemon posset mixture was chilling in the fridge. I placed diced strawberries, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, salt, cornflour and water into a saucepan and placed it on a low heat.
This is another mixture where you need to stir continuously to avoid any sticking to the pan! The strawberries will start to soften, then the mixture will boil and the colour will change. It will go from a milky pink to a deeper red as it thickens up.
At this stage take a potato masher and gently mash the strawberries. You can make it as smooth or chunky as you like. I like to still have some chunks of fruit visible, so I didn’t mash it into a smooth paste. It’s up to you how you want your strawberry sauce.
Leave the sauce to cool in the pan until you’re ready to serve. Spoon sauce onto your lemon posset, garnish with some lemon zest and a strawberry if you want and serve. These possets are bound to become a family favourite. They are light, creamy, full of lemon and balanced out with sweet strawberry sauce. Pure bliss!
If you enjoyed this recipe, check out some of my other recipes here!
- Lime Possets with Raspberry Sauce
- White Chocolate and Lemon Pots de Creme
- Strawberry and Lemon Parfaits
- Lemon Curd Mousse
Lemon Posset with Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
- FOR THE LEMON POSSET:
- 2 cups (480ml) double/heavy cream, I used non dairy Elmlea double cream
- 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
- Juice of 3 lemons, around 9tbsp
- FOR THE STRAWBERRY SAUCE:
- 1 cup (150g) diced strawberries
- 1/3 cup (66g) caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 3 tbsp water
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Lemon zest and extra strawberries to garnish, optional
Instructions
- First of all make the lemon posset mixture: Place double cream and sugar into a deep, medium large saucepan over a medium heat.
- Whisk the mixture gently so as not to whip the cream. You want to ensure there are no lumps of sugar as the mixture heats. Bring to a boil, still whisking continuously, then turn up the heat to high and boil vigorously for 2-3 minutes. This is the part where it shows how much you need a deep pan as the mixture will rise A LOT!
- Once you've boiled your mixture, while stirring, for 2-3 minutes, remove from the heat. You will notice that while it hasn't massively thickened, it will coat the back of a spoon and the texture will have changed. It will look a bit more saucey and like it's thickened ever so slightly.
- Leave the mixture to settle for 15-20 seconds, then add the lemon juice. Stir to make sure everything is combined and then divide the mixture between 4 individual sized glass jars/serving dishes.
- Leave the lemon posset mixture to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to set completely. This will take anywhere from 2-4 hours.
- While the lemon possets are setting, make the strawberry sauce: Place diced strawberries, sugar, vanilla extract, salt cornflour, water and lemon juice into a medium sized saucepan over a low heat.
- Stir the strawberry sauce continually so it doesn't stick to the saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. You will notice that the mixture will change from a milky pink to a deeper red as it boils and thickens. While boiling, you can take a potato masher and mash the strawberries as much or as little as you like. If you prefer smooth, mash them a lot, if you prefer chunky, leave them. I like somewhere in the middle, so mashed enough so that there were some smaller and some larger chunks of strawberry.
- Once the mixture has thickened remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
- Once the mixture is cool and the lemon possets are set, spoon a little sauce onto the top of each posset. Garnish with a little lemon zest and a strawberry, if desired.
- Lemon Possets will keep in the fridge, covered, for 2 days. Best served chilled.
