Not widely know in the US, this is a lovely, silky, creamy, zesty, English dessert. A little goes a long way as it is very rich. The concept is to heat a mixture of cream and sugar, add lemon juice and wait for the magic to happen. Well, following Gordon Ramsay's recipe a few weeks ago, my Posset didn't thicken, so I had to resort to using gelatin! Shshh, no one noticed and it still tasted perfect. After some sleuthing, I found out that fat content is key, not to mention acidity of the lemon juice, in aiding the mixture to set. After perusing all the available whipping creams at the supermarket, I found one organic brand that had 6g fat per 15 mL as opposed to only 5g!! Cook's Illustrated also provided me with a simple trick to increase the fat content to assure the necessary coagulation!
Ingredients
2 Cups Heavy Cream
4.6 Oz Granulated or Castor Sugar (2/3 Cup)
1 Tbsp Grated Lemon Zest
6 Tbsp Lemon Juice
For the topping you can use fresh blueberries, fresh cut strawberries or raspberries. I heated up a mix of fresh raspberries and blackberries (no added sugar). The raspberries break down into a tasty sauce and the blackberries stay intact.
Fresh Mint Leaves for Garnish.
Method
Note: This recipe requires reducing the cream/sugar mix to two cups, so situate a heat proof measuring cup by the stove to measure the mix during the reduction process
Combine cream, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves and the mix doesn't boil over.
Cook until the mixture has reduced down to 2 cups (see note!), about 8-12 minutes
Remove pan from the heat and add the lemon juice
Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes. A skin will form on top.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and discard lemon zest
Divide mixture evenly between 6 small ramekins, or 4oz shot glasses
Portions will be approx 3oz. Adjust recipe quantities accordingly if you want larger portions
Garnish with mint and your favourite berries