Upside-Down Lemon, Maple & Vanilla Pudding From Ottolenghi Test Kitchen

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking dish about 9 x 13 inches/23 x 33cm in size with a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the bottom and sides, with enough overhang to fold over the cake as well.
2. Place a large, nonstick frying pan on high heat and, once very hot, char a third of the lemon slices on both sides—about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Continue in this way with the rest.
3. Put 1/2 cup/120ml of maple syrup and the scraped-out vanilla pod in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with the charred lemon slices, spreading out so they cover the entire bottom, overlapping in places.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment in place, and mix on medium speed to combine. Add the softened butter, eggs, yolk, vanilla seeds, brown sugar, milk, and the remaining 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes until combined. The mixture will look as if it’s split a little with some smaller cubes of butter—but that’s okay.
5. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag, snipping the base, and pipe the mixture evenly on top of the lemons in the baking dish (piping the mixture ensures the lemons don’t move around too much). Gently smooth over the mixture with the back of a spoon. Fold over the excess parchment paper to cover, then wrap the dish tightly in foil.
6. Place the baking dish in a larger roasting pan (roughly 16 x 11 inches/40 x 28cm). Pour enough boiling water into the pan to come 11/4 inches/3cm up the sides (about 1 quart/1 liter), then bake for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the foil, unwrap the top of the cake, and lift out the baking dish from the water. Set aside for 5 minutes before carefully inverting the whole thing onto a platter, removing the parchment paper to expose the lemons.
7. Toward the last 10 minutes of cooking, make the lemon maple butter. Put the lemon juice and maple syrup into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat. Cook for about 2 minutes, then turn the heat down to low and, when no longer simmering, gradually add the butter cubes a little at a time, whisking with each addition until incorporated. Don’t let the mixture boil at all—you should be left with an emulsified sauce. Remove from the heat.
8. Drizzle one-third of the lemon maple butter all over the cake and serve warm, with the extra maple butter and crème fraiche alongside.
9. Make it your own: Try this recipe using kumquats instead of lemons, and orange juice instead of lemon juice.