Cranberry Lemon Pudding Cake with Cumin Yogurt and Maple Glazed Walnuts
After a big meal like Thanksgiving or Christmas, a lighter dessert can be enjoyed without feeling stuffed. A cranberry lemon pudding cake with cumin yogurt and maple glazed walnuts is festive, tart and a nice touch of sweet.
Growing up, boxed pudding cakes were the only desserts in our house. Pour in hot water and microwave the cake – dessert was done. Now, I still love the concept of a pudding and a cake all made into one, but more refined with some variation in tart elements.
Best thing is this dessert can be made ahead by a day; just wrap each ramekin or baking dish with plastic wrap when cool.
Recipe adjusted from Americas Test Kitchen – Lemon Pudding Cake
Cranberry Lemon Pudding Cake with Cumin Yogurt & Maple Glazed Walnuts
After a big meal like Thanksgiving or Christmas, a lighter dessert can be enjoyed without feeling stuffed. A cranberry lemon pudding cake with cumin yogurt and maple glazed walnuts is festive with a nice touch of sweet. Best thing is this dessert can be made ahead up to 1 day, just wrap each ramekin or baking dish with plastic wrap when cool.
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet
- 9"x13" baking pan
- Electric mixer
- 8 oven safe ramekins or 8"x8" glass baking pan
Ingredients
- Butter for greasing
Cumin Yogurt
- ½ cup full fat plain yogurt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
Maple Glazed Walnuts
- ½ cups walnut pieces
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Pudding Cake
- ¾ cup fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ + ¾ cups sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 2 tablespoons grated zest from 2 lemon and 1/2 cup juice from 2 lemons
- 6 large eggs separated
- 1 1/4 cups 1% 2% or whole milk, room temperature
- Room temperature water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F.
Cumin Yoghurt
- In a small bowl, stir plain yogurt and cumin and set aside in fridge until dessert is ready to serve.
Maple Glazed Walnuts
- On a parchment lined baking sheet, gently pour maple syrup on top of walnuts and gently stir to coat. Put maple coated walnuts into oven for 10-15 minutes until toasted. Set aside to cool.
Pudding Cake
- In a small pot on medium heat, warm fresh cranberries until the cranberries blister and split open, about 2-4 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Grease 8 ramekins or 8 x8 glass baking dish with butter.
- Separate eggs.
- In a large bowl, whip beat egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer for 2-4 minutes until soft peaks formed. Add ¾ cups of sugar until egg whites 1 minute, when egg whites are glossy. Set aside
- In a separate large bowl, stir flour and cornstarch together.
- Add ½ cup sugar, butter to the flour mixture and using the same electric mixer (no need to whip beaters) on medium speed, beat until light and fluffy and pillowy looking.
- To the butter and flour mixture, beat in yolks one at a time.
- Pour in milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and blistered cranberries. Without turning the electric mixer, stir the egg butter mixture with the liquid to break up the egg butter mixture. On the lowest speed, mix the egg butter and liquid for 1 minute to incorporate.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold about 1-2 cups of the glossy egg whites into the lemon cranberry batter.
- Gently pour lemon cranberry mixture into egg whites and fold.
- Using ½ cup measuring cup, scoop fluffy egg and lemon cranberry batter into greased ramekins (fill mostly full, but allow extra space from top, so when cake rises, the cake does not spill over). OR pour fluffy egg and lemon cranberry batter into greased glass baking dish.
- Place ramekins or baking dish into 9×13 pan and place into hot oven. Pull rack out to pour room temperature water into the 9×13 pan until half way up the dish(es), this is a water bath.
- In oven about 30 minutes until cake looks cooked on top, but still jiggles when you gently rock the pan. Remove 9×13 from oven and remove baked cake from water. If making ahead, wrap each ramekin or glass baking dish with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
- Serve and garnish with maple glazed walnuts and cumin yogurt.