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These Lemon Soufflé Magic Cakes are light and airy sponge cakes topped with a lemon curd pudding. And, all you had to do was make one batter that magically separates while it bakes!
This was my magical birthday dessert this year!
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Birthday Dessert 2018
See, every year my wonderful husband makes me a super impressive dessert. He does all the work on the dessert. Now he even chooses which recipe he will make for me! That way I don’t have to do any work for it! How awesome is that!
He says that I cook for him all the other days, so he likes to do something special for me, and make a special dessert for my birthday.
These are very impressive and super delicious little lemon desserts. Top them with fresh berries, a sprinkling of powdered sugar, whipped cream, or a little vanilla ice cream, as desired. Or, don’t top them at all – they are that delicious!
Lemon Soufflé Magic Cakes Recipe Notes:
Superfine Sugar
Superfine sugar, also known as caster sugar, is white sugar that is more finely ground than granulated sugar, but not as fine as powdered sugar (also known as confectioners’ sugar or 10x sugar).
It may be purchased or made. If you can’t find it at the store, or simply don’t want to buy an additional ingredient, use your food processor to make it.
Add a couple of tablespoons more than the desired amount of sugar to a food processor, and process until it feels like fine sand. The extra amount of sugar allows for the reduction in volume from grinding it.
If you have additional superfine sugar when you’re done using it, simply add the extra to back to your bag of sugar and use it in another recipe.
Superfine sugar and granulated sugar can be substituted as one for one by weight.
Water bath
These little cakes are baked in a water bath, or bain-marie. The cakes are delicate, and need the water to protect them from the high heat of the oven.
As the cakes bake, the water evaporates, and it creates a little steam in the oven, this helps them bake evenly.
How to serve them
After the cakes are removed from the oven they do deflate a little. That’s normal. We had a couple that we stored in the fridge overnight, and they lost a little more of their puffiness, but were still delicious.
And, we had a hard time deciding which we liked more, the cold from the fridge cakes, or the warm from the oven cakes.
Ramekins
For the ramekins, you can use larger or smaller ones than the 1-cup size called for in the recipe. Don’t worry if your ramekins are a little smaller or larger than the size called for. Your cakes may be a little taller if your ramekins are deeper, and the cakes may be a little flatter if you use a bigger ramekin. We made both sizes, and each worked out really well.
I could see making these little cakes for mother’s day or Easter as special individual desserts. You could also serve them in the ramekins, no you wouldn’t be able to see the pretty layers, but you would be able to taste them, and there’s something fun about getting dessert in your own ramekin!
Other great Lemon Desserts!
I’m a big fan of lemon desserts; I’d actually say that they are my favorite. So, I have lots of them to choose from!
If you’re a fan too, you’ll definitely want to try my Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie, Lemon Impossible Pie from Lovefoodies, and Lemon Soufflé Cheesecake.
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Lemon Soufflé Magic Cakes Recipe
Lemon Soufflé Magic Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup superfine sugar plus more for dusting
- 2 eggs separated
- 2/3 cup reduced-fat buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon fine grain salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Butter and lightly sugar 4 ramekins (about 1-cup size).
- In a medium bowl, using a whisk, mix together egg yolks, buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest until well combined. Sift in flour, sugar, and salt, and continue to mix until just combined.
- In a separate squeaky-clean bowl, using a hand-mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Make sure not to over beat the eggs, just until stiff peaks, make sure they aren’t dry.
- Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the flour mixture, a little at a time, making sure not to deflate the beaten eggs.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared ramekins. Set the filled ramekins in a 13×9 baking pan, or in a large roasting tray. Fill the baking pan with hot water so it goes halfway up the sides of the ramekins, being careful not to get water into the inside of the ramekins.
- Carefully place the water bath with filled ramekins in the oven, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top springs back when gently pressed, and the cakes have a nice golden brown color. Remove the baking pan from the oven, allow the cakes to cool slightly, and remove the ramekins from the water bath. Wipe the outside of the ramekins dry with a towel.
- To serve, run a paring knife or offset spatula around the outside of the cake. Place a plate on top of a ramekin, and carefully turn over the plate and the ramekin, holding them together. Remove the ramekin off the top to reveal the layer of cake and pudding. Garnish with berries and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
- Store cooled cakes in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Wendy Hermann
I made these and they are very pretty and the layers were just as you described. My question is-whats the secret to not having the cake stick to the knife as you try and release it? I sprayed with cooking spray but the edges didn’t look pretty because they stuck. I’m wondering if its better to let them cool prior to taking them out of the ramekins or is it better to do that as they come out of the oven? Thanks!
Debi
Wendy, I found that as the cakes cooled in the ramekins they released from the sides by themselves (they sort of shrink a little). I’ll add that to the recipe card as well. Thanks for the feedback on that.
Dianne
Hi Deb can I ask you what supper fine sugar is. Is it caster sugar or maybe icing sugar. Thank you looks soo yummy
Debi
Dianne, yes, super fine sugar is also know as castor sugar or sometimes baker’s sugar. It is NOT powdered sugar, also known as icing sugar or confectioners sugar, which is much more powdery than you want for this recipe. These are good, and easy to make! Hope you love them!
Manuella
Love it!! First time making it this morning for lunch and turned out perfectly!! Forgot to take pictures of the originals made in the ramekins but had made these in mini cake pans and they also turned out great. Just ran out of ramekins and wanted to make more. Taste absolutely amazing!! Yummmm…just yummmm!♥️ Thank you!
Dani
Made for first time. Absolute hit with the family! Easy, light and delicious. Will definitely make again soon.
Susie
Works perfectly fine with granulated sugar..made these for a restaurant hundreds of times. I keep the measurement the same..(slightly less than if using superfine) since the volume is less
Mj
This looks yummy. I tried a different version and am going to try yours. Is it ok to use whole milk instead of buttermilk?
Debi
Mj, no, please use buttermilk in this recipe. You can’t directly substitute milk for buttermilk in baked goods because buttermilk is acidic and thicker, which are crucial for tender texture and a lighter crumb. Substituting milk alone will result in a denser texture and a less fluffy end result.