Tom and I are celebrating out second wedding anniversary this coming Tuesday. I’m sitting writing those words, and I still cannot believe it’s been already two years since our wedding.

Tradition says that you should give something made out of cotton for your second anniversary, but seriously – whose husband would be excited about new pajamas or a bath robe or bed sheets? I know mine wouldn’t.

Instead of cotton, I knew that I needed to continue my trend and cook/bake something for him – just like I been doing for the past seven years we been together.

Other than pie, Tom loves anything that has lemon in it. His favorite candies are lemon drops and when I got this book and was reading through it for the first time, this recipe had his name all over it – I’m a huge fan of custard desserts, so this recipe was truly tailor made for the both of us. I needed to make it happen, pronto!

So when Marie mentioned that if we have any special occasions coming up and we are interested in certain recipes to mark them and let her know so she would put them on the list.

And she did just that.

I been very excited with these and I could not wait to make them for him (and me).

I easily recognized all of the components, which I made numerous times during my Heavenly Cake bake along. The batter for the Shortcake was a simple sponge cake, made by warming the sugar and eggs and then beating them until almost double in size, then adding Wondra flour and the brown sugar that had been mixed in with some vanilla. I used the Pyrex baking containers to bake them, and just like the book said, they rose up and looked golden brown at 20 minutes. The rest of the component were pretty easy. Lemon syrup and Apple Glaze took minutes to put together. The Posset was the new cast member in this play.

This custard goes back centuries – it was the medieval equivalent of a bedtime cup of cocoa, since it was enjoyed more as a warming drink to remedy a cold rather than a mousse. The original drink was made with milk curdled with wine or ale, often spiced. Since then it has evolved into a quintessential English summer desert – creamy and sweet but with a refreshing hit from the lemon.

It’s also very easy to make, with only 3 ingredients – Lemon juice, heavy cream and sugar. How can you go wrong?

You cannot.

I love Rose, I really do, and her instructions have more than once save the day. But, the amount of containers she makes us use sometimes drives me up the wall. So, I read what I needed to do, and took the short path. Use one glass container to hold the posset (instead of 2) and I warmed up the cream and sugar together, and then added the lemon juice, which meat one dirty saucepan, instead of two. The posset needs to sit in the refrigerator to form a hard layer, that will be use to put on top of the cakes, but it needed a rest of 3- 4 hours to get to that point.

I made sure to take a quick taste and I have to say the Lemon Posset is a near perfect dessert in my mind. It is rich, decadent, and creamy, while managing to taste light and fresh on the tongue. Three simple ingredients that come together in a taste and texture that will make you smile.

Those medieval cooks knew what they were doing back then.

This recipe came together quite fast; the only thing I had trouble with was the waiting period in between the steps.

My husband spent most of Sunday like a kid in a car trip – constantly asking, “are they ready yet?”

Next time I’m skipping this whole thing and making the posset all alone. In fact, I’m totally making this and putting it in my ice cream maker, because this custard shouts “MAKE ME INTO ICE CREAM”.

At the end, these delicate desserts were worth the wait. They were all that I had hope they were.

M husband gave these cakes a 10+. He loved them and I have to agree that I did too. He ate two and informed me that the rest were to stay at home, no sharing with ANYONE. He also told me to redo the posset, because he wanted to put it over strawberries.

I cannot share the actual recipe, but I can point you to a couple of links where you can find the recipe to make the Posset.

Gordon Ramsey Lemon Posset

Lemon Posset with Sugared-almond shortbread

You can check out the rest of The Baking Bible Alpha Bakers doing their stuff by stopping at the bake along blog.

Disclaimer: As previously noted, no recipes are shared in my Cake Bible posts, due to publishing restrictions enforced by the publisher of Rose’s The Baking Bible. But, you can support me and her by purchasing the book.