Lemon Ginger Posset with Raspberries Recipe

Do you love sweet and simple desserts that cook in no time yet feels like you are eating some hoity-toity four-star masterpiece?  I have the recipe for you, this Easy Lemon Ginger Posset with Raspberries is made with just lemon juice, sugar, cream, and flavorings for an amazing citrusy indulgent treat.

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The perfect dessert for special occasions

If you ever want a special dessert to serve for Mother's Day, birthday celebrations, or even a special dinner date this is definitely an impressive treat.   But I believe special desserts should be served anytime so go ahead and make this decadent posset for your afternoon coffee or tea break, or even a late-night comfort food snack.

What is a Posset?

• I know you are curious.  A Posset is an English dessert but is not widely known in the U.S. and I don't know why I guess creme brulee became more popular. I just know I have become obsessed with it.
• Here is your history lesson for today.  A posset goes way back to medieval times and was a drink usually made with milk and some type of alcohol that would cause the drink to curdle; oh yum!  Lady Macbeth, from Shakespeare, used the posset drink to poison her prison guards; this must have been one potent drink, but there is always tragedy with Shakespeare.
• Over the years the posset became a chilled thickened custard for dessert.
• A basic posset is made with just a citrus juice, cream, and sugar. Amazing that these three ingredients are all that is needed to make one of the most luxurious desserts ever.

Ingredients

• Heavy cream
• Sugar
• Lemons
• Fresh ginger
• Crystalized ginger
• Raspberries

How to thicken this custard

• A posset is not your typical custard since there are no eggs, starch, or gelatin to thicken it.  The acid from citrus juice is used as the thickening agent.  Using the acid is the key to making the custard thick.
• Even though the citrus juice thickens the posset, it is not as thick as a pudding, for instance, it does set up but it is very soft, or shall we say velvety.

Today's recipe is for a Lemon Ginger Posset, but feel free to use your favorite ingredients and flavorings. Remember using an acid is key to thickening the posset so citrus is the main ingredient.

How to make a lemon posset

1. First juice all the lemons so they are ready to add to the custard and grate the ginger.
2.  In a medium saucepan add the sugar, cream and grated ginger, stir and bring to a boil. This step enables the sugar to dissolve and the ginger to flavor the custard.
3. Continue cooking and stirring the custard until it is reduced to about 2 cups. This takes about 10 minutes. This mixture needs to reduce to two cups so you will need to pour the cream into a measuring cup to see if it has reduced enough.  I usually do this once or twice.
4. When the mixture is reduced, pour into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice. I pour this out of the saucepan so it cools faster.
5. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes.
6. Strain the custard from the bowl into a large measuring cup so it is easy to pour.
7. Pour the strained custard into small dishes or ramekins and place in the refrigerator until set, about 2 hours.
8. When ready to serve top with fresh raspberries, candied ginger and lemon zest. These are all optional toppings, so use what you like.

Juicing the lemons

Adding the sugar and grated ginger to the cream and boiling the cream

Pouring the lemon juice into the hot cream and straining the posset custard

Pouring the strained posset into ramekins

Get ready for some refreshing luscious lemony goodness.

Tips for making a posset

Using heavy cream is required as it needs the fat from the cream to interact with the sugar and citrus juice.  Regular milk or a milk alternative just will not work.

Boiling the cream creates the reaction needed to reduce the amount of water in the cream so the posset gets thick, just make sure to watch your pot so it doesn't boil over.

For the best results, you want the cream mixture to reduce to two cups, this means occasionally you need to pour out the cream into a measuring cup to see if it has reduced enough.

Even if you do not steep any flavors in the cream it is important to still strain the posset cream so the texture remains smooth

Try these other flavors in your posset

Remember, you need an acid from citrus to set the custard so lemon, orange, lime, and grapefruit are your flavors. If you like, add a secondary flavor from herbs or spices that you steep in the cream. A pretty garnish on top finishes off your posset.

• Orange juice steeped with a cinnamon stick
• Orange juice with vanilla beans
• Grapefruit juice stepped with star anise
• Lime juice stepped with  mint
• Lemon juice stepped with lavender
• Lemon juice steeped with pomegranate seeds for a pretty pink dessert
• Replace the sugar with honey for a different sweetness
• The simple flavors of just the citrus are simply delicious by themselves

Lucky for us the posset evolved over time and has become a popular dessert in Britain.  Hopefully, the U.S. will adopt this dessert into their menus, meanwhile, you can easily make it at home.  After I made this rich, creamy custard it has become a go-to dessert in my house because it takes simple ingredients, it's quick to cook and honestly, this custard is truly delicious.

More desserts to make and eat

Mandarin Orange Caramel Creme

Lemon Cake Pie

If you love ginger bake these Ginger cookies with Fresh Ginger, and for extra flavor there is crystalized ginger inside too!

Recipe

Easy Lemon & Ginger Posset Recipe

Jere' Cassidy

Made with three basic ingredients this posset is rich and creamy, flavored with lemons and ginger. So simple to make with a rich and velvety. Adapted from Cooks Illustrated.

4.86 from 28 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

chill time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine English

Servings 6

Calories 226 kcal

Equipment

• Medium saucepan 2 quart
• 2 cups measuring cup
• Citrus Zester

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 cups heavy cream
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 - 3 lemons to make 6 tablespoons
• ½ tablespoon ginger, grated add more per taste
• 1 pint of raspberries
• canided ginger

Instructions

 

• In a medium saucepan combine the cream, sugar and grated ginger.
• Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue boiling over medium heat until the mixture reduces to 2 cups. This will take about 10 minutes. Watch that the cream does not boil over. Pour the cream mixture into a 2-cup meauring cup to make sure it is at or close to 2 cups. If not, return the cream to the saucepan and continue boiling.
• When the mixture is reduced to two cups, remove the saucepan from the heat and pour into a bowl then stir the lemon juice into the cream mixture.
• Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes then strain the cream through a mesh strainer into a bowl or measuring cup.
• Pour the custard into 6 ramekins then refrigerate for two hours or until set.
• You can leave the posset as is or top with raspberries, lemon zest and candied ginger, or any toppings you prefer.

Notes

Tips for making a posset

1. Make sure to boil the cream mixture until it has reduced to approximately 2 cups.
2. If you prefer the amount of ginger can be reduced or not used. 

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 226kcalCarbohydrates: 23.9gFat: 14.9gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 18mg

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About Jere’

From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California,  my passion for food is never-ending.  Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory recipes with all my baking friends.

Have any questions or just want to chat about the recipe? Contact me here, and I’ll be happy to help!

Remember to always save room for dessert.

Blessings ~ Jere'