Warm Lemon Dessert Spells Comfort

Even though I grew up across the ocean in a Catholic and French speaking country where baguettes and chocolate were ever present, my memories of food also revolve around an old cookbook from the American Mennonite tradition that my mother would use regularly. The Mennonite Community Cookbook, originally published in 1950, has since been continuously in print. Its black and white drawings and artwork take me back to an earlier time. And the recipes! Contributed by Mennonite women in communities across the United States and Canada, often under their husband’s name, they cover a lot of ground.

From its covers, I learned to make my first batch of cinnamon rolls with the Foundation Sweet Dough recipe, and I worked alongside my mother cooking and baking through other recipes from its pages. It has been on my bookshelf since I was fifteen years old when my mother, knowing my interest in kitchen work, gave it to me as a Christmas gift. That copy is now old and battered and has lost its back cover. The most loved pages are crinkled and stained with use. My mother has since given me her newer copy with some of her favorite recipes highlighted in the back.

Just recently, I recalled a dessert from the cookbook that my mother made fairly frequently when unexpected guests showed up on our doorstep. We usually had the ingredients at hand and once put together, it could bake in the oven while we ate the main part of the meal. My mother would pull it out of the oven and set it in the middle of the table and guests were always curious about the contents. But once they tasted the warm, creamy and fresh lemony flavor, they usually wanted seconds.

So when the weather turns to cold and frigid, and the meal calls for a little extra something, I find the recipe for this Lemon Sponge Custard and I put it together. As it bakes, the house starts to warm up and smell good and the lemon flavor calls out, and when I dip my spoon into the soft top custard and scoop out some of the creamy warm lemon pudding underneath, it gives me comfort.

Here is the recipe as contributed by Mary Landis and Mrs. Mahlon King from the Mennonite Community Cookbook.

Lemon Sponge Custard

3 T. butter, room temperature

3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs, separated

2 T. flour

1/8 t. salt

1 c. milk

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 6 custard cups and set in a glass pan.

In a medium bowl, mix sugar, flour and salt. Add butter and rub it into mixture. Add beaten egg yolks and lemon juice and zest and beat well. Add milk and beat until smooth.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Gently fold in stiffly beaten egg whites into other mixture. Divide among the custard cups. Carefully pour hot water into the glass dish until it reaches halfway up the liquid in the cups.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until sponge on the top is starting to color.

Alternatively, you can bake it in one greased casserole, set in a dish of water. I usually make a little more since guests often want seconds! Enjoy!