June 27, 2015
Lemon Posset Tart!
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Deliciously Creamy Lemon Posset on top of a Buttery Biscuit Base – Yummy No-Bake Dessert based on a Classic… the Lemon Posset Tart!
I have always adored Lemon Posset as its so simple yet simple scrumptious. Who knew that combining sugar, cream & Lemon could lead to something SO good?!
When I worked at a cafe a few years ago, they made afternoon teas every day… one of the preparations for this was to make mini individual Lemon Posset’s with a raspberry on top.
It’s a very simple dessert to make in reality. All you do is add the cream and sugar together, heat and boil in the pan, and then add the lemon zest and juice! It really is only three ingredients (technically four if you claim lemon zest/juice is two!)
I however always crave something biscuity with my Lemon Posset’s so decided to ramp up the standard recipe a tad and make it into a Lemon Posset Tart! And do you know what this means? It’s Basically just a No-Bake Lemon Tart and who doesn’t love that idea!
I realise that this looks a lot like a Cheesecake but its not, its simpler then that and SO MUCH EASIER! Technically yes you need a hob to be able to do it, so you are ‘cooking’ something in a way, but it’s still just a five ingredient tart without the decoration!
For the base, I simply used a standard Cheesecake style base of 300g of biscuits to 150g of melted unsalted butter, and topped it with all of the Lemon Posset mixture – easy!
I find that Possets in general are a very easy dessert – the ratio of 200ml of cream to 1 lemons worth of zest is what works best, and its deeeelicious! However, that isn’t enough for this tart, so 600ml Double Cream is needed!
You can obviously just make this in to individual Posset’s leaving out the biscuit base, or even serve them individually! If I do that, I usually make 8-10 portions of of this mixture! Or if you go mini, use shot glasses!
The setting part is a little weird, as the mixture (because of what you do to it) sorta ends up jelly like, but it’s thicker, and completely natural! The top of the tart naturally colours quite yellow as well, which helps with the Lemon theme!
For the decoration, I go simple. It’s completely and utterly optional (as always!), but whipped swirls of cream, a sprinkle of a crushed biscuit, and some freeze dried raspberries! Simple, yet elegant.
I hope you love this as much as I do! Enjoy! x
Lemon Posset Tart!
Ingredients
Biscuit Crust
- 300 g Digestives
- 150 g Unsalted Butter (melted)
Lemon Posset Filling
- 600 ml Double Cream
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- Zest of 3 Lemons
- 75 ml Lemon Juice (about 2 lemons)
Decoration
- 150 ml Double Cream
- 2 tbsp Icing Sugar
- Freeze Dried Raspberries
- Biscuit Crumbs
Instructions
- Blitz the Digestives in a food processor and add the melted Unsalted Butter, pulse together until combined.
- Spread onto the bottom and sides of an 23cm Tart Tin. I usually start on the sides, and then cover the bottom last!
- Pour the Double cream and Caster Sugar into a large pan and heat on the hob gently, stir till the sugar has dissolved.
- Turn the heat up (medium heat max!) and heat the mixture till it starts to boil gently, stir frequently to stop the mixture from catching on the bottom – let it boil for 1 minute and then turn off the heat.
- Stir in the Lemon Zest and Fuice and pour onto the biscuit base – refrigerate for 4+ hours, or preferably overnight so it has time to set properly!
- Once set, decorate how you please – I mix 150ml Double Cream with 2 tbsps Icing Sugar and pipe on, and then use some Freeze Dried Raspberries, and some Biscuit Crumbs!
Notes
- This is obviously a giant Posset so it takes longer to set then Posset’s in individual glasses so be patient with the setting!
- If you want to try a different Citrus flavour then go ahead! Just make sure you stick to the same amount of Zest and Juice so that it will still set!
- This will last in the fridge, covered, for 3 days!
- You can buy freeze dried raspberries from places such as Waitrose, Lakeland, Sainsburys, or a much bigger amount online!
- I recommend using this 23cm tart tin for the recipe!
- Also... TOP TIP - I find it's MUCH easier to pour the lemon mixture into the tin whilst in the fridge, so I don't have to move the tin after it's full. But I get this isn't possible for everyone!
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi,
I made this lemon posset tart. Went down a treat . Really tasty and everything went to plan and set perfectly.
Just that when it set there were a slight few bubbles / maybe air bubbles on top of it . Not many now but do you know the cause of this??
Hiya! Before setting, tap it on your work surface to get rid of any bubbles. Hope this helps! x
Could you do this but with a homemade pastry bottom? Or would the flavours/texture not work if I did that? I am asking as I could use this as an idea for my food GCSE exam. But I need to try and do as high skill as possible?
Hiya! You would have to have a blind baked pastry base, and even then it may still go slightly soggy. Hope this helps! x
What kind of cream did you use?
Could I use limoncello to make up the lemon juice?
Thankyou Jane, as always another lovely recipe! We had a last minuet arrangement so the tart only had a couple of hours to set but it was still absolutely lovely!
Made this for the first time, I was worried about the whole boiling and over doing it bit but followed the instructions and it came out perfectly! Thanks Jane!
Can you make this with vegan double cream please?
Hi Jane – any tips for easy removal of the tart from the pan without he sides crumbling? Thank you!
Hiya! Always make sure you are using a loose bottomed tin – this will make things so much easier! x
Made this for Christmas dessert and then shared with my in laws (the little bit that was left!). Every single person loved loved LOVED this. Creamy and tangy and super simple to make.
I used biscotti biscuits (reduced the butter to 100g) and then spread my homemade raspberry coulis thinly on it before pouring over the lemon mix. Absolutely devine
I made this yesterday and it tastes absolutely amazing! Is it suitable for freezing please? ☺️
Thank you so muuuch! Yes absolutely – you can freeze this for up to 3 months! Hope this helps! x
I absolutely love this recipe so I have decided to make it for dessert on Christmas this year however would I be able to make it now and freeze it until then?
will this work with another citrus such as orange?
Hiya! Yes it should! Enjoy, hope this helps x
This is one of my favourite desserts to make. Can I freeze this?
Love this recipe!
I’m usually a disaster when it comes to baking – something ALWAYS goes wrong and my kitchen does be upside down. But this recipe was so easy to follow, didn’t make a mess and turned out perfect!
Loved this recipe – such an easy one to follow and worked really well. Great detail in recipe- thanks for making it so clear. Highly recommend trying this! It went down very well at a summer BBQ lunch.
Do you need to set the base in the fridge for a while (like you do with cheesecakes) before adding the filling?
Hello, I don’t bother!xx
Would this work with dairy free cream?
I haven’t tried it myself!
So I made a slight error with my online shop and ordered 30 packets of biscoff biscuits instead of 3 so I am currently making all things biscoff (your blog is helping massively!) I was hoping to make this lemon tart and swap the digestives for the biscoff biscuits- would this work??? Would I still use 300g of biscuits/150g butter?? Thank you
Hello! Oh what a palaver! I would use 100g of butter but otherwise yes it will be delicious. Good luck with it!xx
Hi, I made this and it was a hit. Thanks. Do you think it would work by using chocolate digestives for the base?
Ah yay! It would, but you need to use about 1/3 less butter!
Hi Jane,
Just a quick question. Would using extra thick double cream help it to set, or is standard double cream preferable?
And also, would spreading a little lemon curd over the base before pouring the posset affect the setting?
Making for Christmas day!
Standard double cream is preferable because of the method – it’s the boiling etc that does it! And the lemon curd would be lovely x
Lovely recipe. Made it following your instructions. Measurements might have been less and more. But it was a complete hit with the family. Thanks for the recipe. Will definitely make it again but with different combinations. Might try an Oreo base next time.
After discovering your website a couple of months ago and this is the fourth thing I tried, its as perfect as the first three!
I actually prefer this to a lemon cheesecake, rich but zingy.
I might try it with Lime.
Thank you
Another amazing recipe
Hi Jane, I made this today and it tasted so good!! I let it set in the fridge for 8 hours but I found when I cut myself a slice the inside was still a little runny. Is this just because it needed to set for a little longer? X
I would expect it to be set after 8 hours – It might have needed a bit longer boiling if all the ingredients were correct!! x
Apologies if these are stupid questions….
Do you think this would work if I used 75ml of blended and sieved raspberry juice instead of lemon?
Also would it be OK to submerge some whole raspberries in the posset mix before setting?
Thanks 😊
In all honesty I have absolutely no idea! I haven’t tried it personally and have only made posset with citrus – but yes to the raspberries!
Thanks for the reply. I was brave and gave it a go using 85ml of raspberry puree and it worked fabulously! 😀
I took a fork and squished fresh Raspberries onto the base and the hot posset poured over made beautiful shades of pink at the bottom after it set: it worked great!
Hi Jane,
Gradually working my way down your list of recipes and came across this one! I need to make two of these (one GF). I have the 23cm tin as suggested but have had to order a second 25cm tin as they were out of stock. Do you recommend I change the quantities for the 25cm one and if so, by how much? Thanks so much.
Hey! Yes, I would increase it – maybe by about a quarter?! xx
Tried this yesterday for my brother’s birthday. Everyone loved it. Your recipes always work their magic. Keep up the good work!
My sister lives in Brazil where they use condensed milk in a lot of recipes. She makes a lemon tart where you whisk a tin of condensed milk with 200ml double cream and then whisk in as much lemon juice as you like and it magically thickens into a posset like mixture. Pour it on top of a biscuit base and set in fridge. I was amazed how well it worked and how easy!
This is a delicious tart. I enjoyed making this. It was a doddle to make and was scoffed by everyone – in fact, some had 2 portions. Thank you.
So glad it was a success!!
I don’t have a flan tin, will a normal cake time work?
Yes it would – but you still need to put the biscuits up the side to contain the posset mix!
I’ve made this once and everyone I asked to try it LOVED it!! Making it again this week. So tart and tangy but creamy and yum. Thanks!
I got the tin on your link and it was perfect. Xx
Awh yay!! So glad it was a hit!! x
Do you cool the mixture before pouring onto the biscuit base? I have a homemade burnt butter & coconut biscuit crumb in my freezer that i need to use up and think this would be perfect with it but I’m just a bit worried the base will go soggy if the cream mixture is hot when poured onto the base?
No, you pour it on hot. As soon as it cools it’ll start to set, so you pour it on when freshly made!
This recipe sounds great but I would have thought the posset would leak over the side of the base. Does the springform cake tin hold the posset in place without leaking?
If you make the posset correctly as is stated in the recipe, it sets firm so won’t leak.
Hi! I’d like to replace the caster sugar with honey-can you tell me how many mls I would need? Also, will the posset firm up enough if I use honey? I’m just worried about the firmness & that it won’t hold its shape 😉 Many thanks!
I wouldn’t replace the sugar with honey.
Can I use 300ml clotted cream and 300ml double cream. Would that work? 🙂
I’ve never tried that with a posset before, but as long as it still boils etc then I don’t see why not! x
Hi, would this work with a pastry base?
Thanks
Yes!
We have what is equivalent to whipping cream in fat content here – do you think it would be ok to use instead? Can’t get double cream.
It’s probably worth a go?
Hi Jane i am a 65 year old man who loves cooking but have never baked a thing in my life, this lemon posset is the first sweet ive ever made & it went down a treat with with my family so im about to make an orange one with a chocolate digestive base wish me luck !
That’s amazing! Enjoy it, I love orange possets as well!!
HI,
Just found this site, and it’s a blessing. Curious question..where I am, there is no double cream. We get single cream in boxes. Would sweetened condense milk work?
Hiya – I’m really sorry but I don’t know – the idea is that the cream and sugar boils together and sets, so I’m not sure if condensed milk would work or not as its not just dairy if that makes sense? You could try the single cream but it might not set as well? x
I love this lemon posset so much it’s delicious your so clever Jane.
Thank you!
[…] in July 2015, I made my Lemon Posset Tart, and it has always been a hit. It’s a delicious way of changing up a classic, or making a […]
what size springform tin do you use for your lemon posset tart and how many people does it serve?
I use an 8″ one as mentioned in the method of the post. It also states how many it serves above the recipe.
Hi Jane.. i made this for my mother in law for boxing day and it was wonderful! I used some lemons i got brought ober from cyprus… the taste was out of this world! I want to make it for my sister on nye but shr doesn’t like biscuot bases. Can I do these in glasses/pots? How many do you think the posset mix would make?
Off the top of my head I can’t really remember how many, but it depends how big your glasses and such are as well. I’d say about 6-8 decently sized ones?
Would this be OK in a 23cm tin?
Yes, it will just be a lot thinner though! x
MacMillan Coffee Morning coming up – this and your FABULOUS lemon cheesecake meringue are my offerings!! Thanks Jane. Incidentally, it’s nice to see posts other than those from the US – the recipes are nice enough but the whole cup and stick thing throws me!!! ?
Ohh thank you Susie! I hope you love this and the cheesecake! ☺️ Yeah I’m really not a fan of cup measurements as I find them so unreliable and it’s just confusing haha!
Oh my! This was delicious!! And so easy – couldn’t believe that cream, sugar and lemon would set so well.
It’s insane isn’t it how it works so well! Easier than cheesecake almost ?
i love lemon posset. i usually serve mine with almond shortbread.
Yeah I love serving it with shortbread! I just wanted to try something different 🙂
Really great idea. Well done!
Ahh, I love lemon posset! this is a great idea… yum!
Awwh thank you!! ?
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Love Lemon Posset, and this is a beautiful tart.
Thank you! And me too, i love anything lemony haha 🙂
Lovely!
Thankyouuuu!
We have a neigbourhood party next week and since I had no idea what I should contribute to it I told the organizer that she should call me as soon she knows what everyone else is bringing and tell me if I should rather bring a salad, a cake or another dessert. Well, I think I have to call her right now and tell her that I’m bringing a cake 🙂
Awwwh haha yay!! If you do make it I hope everyone loves it 🙂 x
This looks amazing! I love lemon desserts.
Thank you!! 🙂
And me too!