Lemon Posset and Almond Tuiles

Here’s how this works. Lemon posset is a mixture of cream and lemon juice and sugar. That’s it. Put it into glasses and it sets into smooth, mouth-coating loveliness. It’s dead easy. If you don’t fancy the rest of the recipe, dip in some shop-bought shortbread fingers (preferably from a tartan tin) and delight in the deliciousness of posset.

Almond tuiles, though they sound fancy, is just a biscuit made with runny batter. The most complicated thing about them is separating the egg, because they only use the white. If you’re not a baker and not used to doing this, I’d do this by catching the yolk in your hand and letting the white run down through your fingers into a bowl. Lemon posset is an ideal trick to keep up your sleeve for an indulgent dessert on the fly, whilst tuiles are great alone with coffee or tea, and are super-fast to bake. Dip tuiles in the possets and you’ve got a proper posh dinner party dessert.

Step 1

First, make your possets. Into a saucepan, weigh your cream and sugar. Stirring all the time, bring these to a simmer over a medium heat. Simmer for a minute or two to thicken and dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat. 

Step 2

Stir in the lemon juice until it is completely combined. Pour these into wee glasses (shot glasses work well for small portions) and leave to set in the fridge until serving. 

Step 3

Preheat your oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7. Line a large baking tray (or two if you’ve got an extra) with baking paper (non stick greaseproof paper). 

Step 4

To make your tuiles, whisk your egg white and sugar together until light and frothy (no need to make them stiff peaks). Melt your butter in a microwave, then pour it and the flour into your frothy mixture and stir to combine. 

Step 5

Pour (or spoon) your mixture into lumps on your tray, leaving plenty room between each one. Spread them out until they’re very thin circles about 10cm (4 inch) wide. Gaps don’t matter; they’ll spread out in the oven. 

Step 6

Scatter with flaked almonds and place in the oven for 5 minutes. You’ll want to check them after 4 minutes, just in case they have gone brown prematurely. 

Step 7

As soon as they’re out the oven you’ll notice they’re still soft and malleable. Use a palette knife to remove them, one at a time, from the paper and place on a rolling pin. Bend them round to make them tuile-shaped. To serve, remove your possets from the fridge and top with a raspberry. Dust with inevitable icing sugar. 

Top Tip:

You can make a posset with any sharp citrus fruit. I like one made with limes, but you’ve got to watch: limes are far more acidic than lemons, so you’ve got to add more sugar to compensate. Tasting as you go is always the best approach. 

Enjoy!