Lemon Dessert Recipe
Most of us have lemons in our kitchen but have you ever used them to make a dessert? This lemon dessert is so simple and it tastes heavenly! It’s the perfect mouth-watering combination of tangy and sweet.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Ingredients To Make The Dessert
For the non-gluten-free version of this dessert recipe, you’ll need –
- A Marie Biscuit or Graham Cracker base
- Custard Powder
- Milk
- Condensed Milk
- Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest (grated lemon peel)
For the gluten-free version of this lemon pudding you’ll need –
- Gluten-free biscuits or if you prefer to make your own base then you’ll need cassava flour, sugar, and butter (almond flour would also work)
- Custard Powder
- Milk
- Condensed Milk
- Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest (grated lemon peel)
How To Make The Whipped Topping
My favorite part of making and eating this lemon pudding is the gorgeous whipped topping that is made by combing the lemon juice and condensed milk and beating it together.
While you beat the mixture it begins to form into a similar texture to lemon curd. It becomes smooth, soft, thick, and fluffy all at once making it the perfect topping for this dessert. Every time I make this dessert I can’t resist having a spoonful of the whipped topping before adding it to the pudding. It tastes heavenly!
How To Make The Base If You Don’t Have Biscuits
Like a lemon tart, this dessert needs a biscuit base to hold it all together. Because my husband has celiac disease I make everything using gluten-free recipes but you can also make this with regular flour. When I first tried making this as gluten-free I was a bit stuck since I couldn’t use biscuits as the base of the pudding.
So I used a combination of Cassava Flour (you can use normal flour too for the non-gluten option), sugar, and butter. It was actually very easy to make and worked so well as the base for my lemon pudding. All I did was combine a cup of flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1/4 cup of butter and mix it until it formed into a fine crumb.
Then I popped it in the oven to bake while I worked on the custard and whipped topping. When cooked the mixture tastes a bit like shortbread biscuits. While it was still hot I pressed it down with a spoon to make a shortbread crust base for the dessert.
What To Sprinkle On Top Of The Dessert
Before serving I topped mine with desiccated coconut. The flavors of tart lemon, fresh coconut, creamy custard, and buttery shortbread crust work so well together! For other options for the finishing touch, you could also use powdered sugar or lemon zest.
If you’re wondering what lemon zest is, it’s just grated lemon peel. So sprinkling lemon zest on the dessert will give it an extra lemony flavor and add a fresh burst of yellow color to complement the cloudy cream-colored whipped topping.
You might also like – Easy Yogurt Icing – Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownies – Gluten-Free Malva Pudding
How To Serve The Dessert
This dessert is best served chilled. I make it in a round dish and then cut it into pie slices. You could also use a square or rectangular dish and cut the dessert into squares. It doesn’t always come out of the dish in perfect shapes so don’t worry if yours doesn’t.
This dessert recipe doesn’t need a sauce but if you wanted to you could drizzle some fresh cream over the top before serving or if you prefer something more tart then drizzle a little fresh lemon juice over the top instead.
Easy Lemon Dessert Recipe
Easy Lemon Dessert Recipe – Gluten-Free or Regular
Course: DessertCuisine: UniversalDifficulty: Medium8 – 10
servings30
minutes25
minutesThis lemon dessert is so simple to make and it tastes heavenly! It’s the perfect mouth-watering combination of tangy and sweet.
Ingredients – Gluten Free
Gluten Free Biscuits and Butter for the base
or 1 cup Cassava Flour, 1/4 cup Sugar, 1/4 cup firm ButterMilk
Custard Powder
1 Can Condensed Milk
1/8 or 1/4 cup fresh Lemon Juice (depending how tangy you like it, I use 1/4)
- INGREDIENTS – NON GLUTEN FREE
Biscuits and Butter for the base
Milk
Custard Powder
1 Can Condensed Milk
1/8 or 1/4 cup fresh Lemon Juice (depending how tangy you like it, I use 1/4)
Directions – Gluten free
- If you have gluten-free biscuits, crush them and mix with enough butter to form a base.
To make the base from scratch – Combine the flour, butter, and sugar and mix into a fine crumb, place in the oven until cooked. Transfer to a round dish, press down firmly to form the base while still hot. Leave to cool. - Follow the instructions on your custard to make a thick custard. Leave to cool.
- Combine the condensed milk and fresh lemon juice and beat well to form the whipped topping.
- Spread the custard over the base, smooth the whipped topping over the custard and serve plain or sprinkle with desiccated coconut, powdered sugar, or lemon zest.
- Leave in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- DIRECTIONS – NON GLUTEN FREE
- Crush the biscuits and mix with enough butter to form a base.
- Follow the instructions on your custard to make a thick custard. Leave to cool.
- Combine the condensed milk and fresh lemon juice and beat well to form the whipped topping.
- Spread the custard over the base, smooth the whipped topping over the custard and serve plain or sprinkle with desiccated coconut, powdered sugar, or lemon zest.
- Leave in the refrigerator until ready to serve.