Photo and recipe by Letitia Clark.
When you come across really good lemons—the kind with bright yellow skins, maybe even still with a few leaves attached—you should do something special with them. This lemon posset recipe is exactly that. You cut the lemons in half, scoop out the insides (you’ll only need the juice from two), and fill the empty shells with a creamy, tangy lemon custard that sets up like magic in the fridge. The lemon rind infuses the posset with extra flavor, and the whole thing looks impressively fancy for something that uses just three ingredients.
This easy lemon dessert comes from For the Love of Lemons, a cookbook full of citrus-forward recipes that are simple but beautiful. If you love lemon bars, lemon curd, or honestly just adding “a little more lemon” to everything, you’ll want a copy. It’s packed with fresh ideas for baking, cooking, and preserving citrus.
“When you are lucky enough to have beautiful, leafy lemons, there is no nicer thing than halving them, scooping out the flesh (to squeeze) and filling them with lemon posset. The flavour of the rind perfumes the posset and provides a perfect picturesque vessel.
You will need to scoop out four whole lemons, to create the ‘boats’ this is served in, but you only use the juice of two, so the pulp from the others can be used in another recipe.”
Lemon Possets in Lemon Boats
Ingredients
- 90 ml (3 fl oz/generous 1/3 cup) lemon juice, (I use 2 large lemons)
- 400 ml (14 fl oz/generous 1 1/2 cups) double (heavy) cream
- 90 g (3 oz/1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon) sugar
- 8 hollowed-out lemon halves, to serve
Instructions
- Combine the cream and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. Stir gently (the cream will expand a lot) and continue to cook for a minute or two, making sure the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove from the heat, and allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Add the lemon juice to the cream mixture, then decant into your lemon boats. (Note: the boats need to be on a flat surface so the liquid doesn’t spill.)
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Excerpt from For the Love of Lemons: Italian‑Inspired, Sweet and Savoury Recipes by Letitia Clark. Hardie Grant Books, 2025.