The winter holidays are so busy with food, right? I love cooking for my family and friends — sometimes it turns out really well and sometimes, my dear sweet husband will say, “It was good, but maybe not your best.”
But this recipe for Lemon Possets is ALWAYS my best. It has so many things to like — few ingredients, simple to do, not heavy and gorgeous to see. It can be done easily for a rally, too — turn the fine glassware into plastic cups and spoons. No matter how you serve it, you’ll get rave reviews every time, I promise. Enjoy!
English Lemon Posset
Serves 6 or more if container or portions are smaller
Ingredients
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar, plus 2T for the berry topping
1 T grated lemon zest (2-3 lemons)
½ t. salt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup blueberries or other berries – a combination of raspberries and blueberries is great.
Small spring of mint (optional for decoration) is festive for the holidays
Directions
Combine the cream, sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a medium saucepan (6-inch round and 5 inches high—not smaller). Size definitely matters here with the pan.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat to a vigorous simmer and cook for 6 minutes without stirring at all.
Watch it carefully so it doesn’t boil over! If it begins to boil over, remove it from heat for a few seconds and return it to heat to finish.
Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and set aside for 20 minutes.
Then strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large glass measuring cup or bowl, pressing on the zest in the strainer with a rubber spatula to get the most flavor out of the zest.
Discard the zest.
Divide the cream mixture evenly among small glasses or bowls and refrigerate until firm, about three hours. I cover mine with some plastic wrap to keep a “skin” from forming on the possets. If you are doing this for a rally, you could do small plastic glasses, once it has cooled a bit, with plastic spoons. If you are making this for a party at home, which I do frequently, try using antique small glasses that one can find at Goodwill – they definitely don’t need to match.
Thirty minutes before serving, prepare the berries.
Combine the berries with the remaining 2 T sugar and, if you wish, 2 T Grand Marnier.
Allow to macerate for 30 minutes if using the alcohol.
To serve, spoon berries and juices over the posset and serve.
