Lemon Self-Saucing Soufflé Puddings

A gluten-free lemon pudding that separates as it bakes into a light soufflé on top and a soft lemon sauce underneath. This recipe is less sweet than most, using 12g of caster sugar and 20g of monk fruit sweetener across two puddings, which is about 6g of added sugar each. It is made with goat butter and goat milk, and can be adapted to use cow's butter and whole milk instead.

> Naturally gluten-free. Made with goat butter and goat milk.

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> The sugar is kept as low as it can go without losing the rise. 12g of caster sugar plus 20g of monk fruit sweetener across both puddings, which works out at about 6g of added sugar each.

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> These separate as they bake. A light lemon soufflé sets on top and a soft, sharp lemon sauce stays underneath.

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> They are made and baked in one go and eaten straight away. They cannot be prepared ahead or reheated.

Ingredients

• 18g goat butter — 14g melted, about 4g for greasing
• 12g caster sugar, divided
• 20g 1:1 monk fruit sweetener blend
• 2 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
• Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 45g fresh lemon juice
• 15g FREEE plain gluten-free flour
• 100ml whole goat milk, lukewarm
• ⅛ tsp cream of tartar
• Small pinch fine salt

Equipment

• 2 straight-sided 180–200ml ramekins
• Small roasting dish for the water bath
• Electric whisk
• Kettle of just-boiled water

Method

1. Heat and prepare

• Heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan. Put the roasting dish in the oven to heat.
• Grease the ramekins thoroughly with the 4g of butter, brushing upwards around the sides.
• Dust each with a little of the measured caster sugar and tip the loose excess back into the remaining sugar.

2. Make the lemon base

• Whisk the yolks, monk fruit blend and remaining caster sugar for 60–90 seconds until slightly lighter.
• Whisk in the lemon zest, juice and 14g melted butter.
• Add the flour and salt and whisk smooth.
• Gradually whisk in the lukewarm goat milk. The mixture will be thin and may look slightly split. This is normal.

3. Whip the whites

• In a completely clean bowl, whisk the whites with the cream of tartar to soft peaks.
• Stop before they become dry or clumpy. The tips should curl over.

4. Fold gently

• Whisk one large spoonful of white into the lemon base to loosen it.
• Fold in the rest in two additions, turning the bowl and cutting through the centre.
• Stop as soon as no large white streaks remain. A few tiny flecks are better than a deflated mixture.

5. Fill and water-bathe

• Divide between the ramekins, filling to 5–8mm below the rim. Level lightly and wipe the rims clean.
• Set them in the hot roasting dish and pour just-boiled water around them to reach halfway up the ramekins.

6. Bake

• Bake for 18–22 minutes without opening the oven for the first 16 minutes.
• They are ready when well risen and deep golden on top, with a slight tremble in the centre.
• For more sauce, take them out at 18–19 minutes. For a firmer soufflé layer, give them 21–22 minutes.

7. Serve immediately

• Lift the ramekins out of the water, dry the bases and put them straight onto heatproof plates or the work surface.
• Rest for 1 minute only. The rise starts to settle after about 5 minutes, which is normal.

Notes

• What to look for: a dark-gold, flat cap, a tall pale lemon rise, and a spoonable sauce pooled underneath the airy top. If there is no sauce it was baked too long. If the middle is raw and foamy it came out too early.
• The sugar floor: do not cut the 12g of caster sugar further on a first bake. It is already only 6g per pudding and it noticeably improves the height, the crumb and how slowly they collapse. The monk fruit blend supplies sweetness but not structure, so it cannot replace the last of the sugar. Use a granulated 1:1 blend, not pure extract.
• Goat milk still contains lactose. It has slightly less than cow's milk but it is not lactose-free. Each pudding uses about 50ml. For a lactose-free version, use lactose-free whole milk and a lactose-free or dairy-free block butter.
• Not make-ahead. The ramekins can be greased and everything weighed out in advance, but the batter has to be made, folded and baked in one go. These do not sit and they do not reheat.
• Approximate nutrition: about 220 kcal per pudding, roughly 6g added sugar and 9g total sugars per pudding. Exact figures depend on the goat milk and monk fruit blend used.

How this works (the science)

• The two layers come from the water bath. A thin batter with whipped whites folded through it splits as it heats. The aerated part rises and sets into a soufflé, and the heavier liquid sinks and stays as a sauce. The water bath keeps the outside of the ramekin at boiling point rather than oven temperature, so the base never gets hot enough to set. That is what protects the sauce layer.
• Cream of tartar stabilises the whites. It lowers the pH slightly, which makes the egg white proteins hold their structure and lets the foam tolerate folding without collapsing.
• The last 12g of sugar is structural, not sweetening. Sugar dissolves into the whites and slows the proteins down as they set, so the foam expands further before it firms. Remove it and the puddings rise less and drop faster. The monk fruit blend adds sweetness but does nothing for the structure, so it is not a like-for-like swap.
• Gluten is not needed here. Only 15g of flour goes in and it is there to thicken the sauce, not to build structure. The lift comes entirely from the whipped whites, so a plain gluten-free flour works without any change to the method.
• Sugaring the greased ramekins gives the rise something to climb. The grip of the sugar crystals on the buttered sides is what lets the mixture pull itself up rather than slipping back down.

Variations

• Swap the lemon for lime, or use half lemon and half grapefruit for something less sharp.
• Add the zest of an orange alongside the lemon for a softer, rounder flavour.
• Make it with cow's butter and whole milk if goat is not needed.