If you are looking for a smooth, creamy, and decadent dessert, look no further. Not to mention it’s effortless to put together with just four ingredients!
Posset is one of those desserts that will wow your friends and family with just one bite. The texture of this dessert is so incredibly smooth, creamy, and decadent that everyone will assume you spent all afternoon creating this bit of perfection. But it will be our secret that it took maybe 15 minutes and four simple ingredients to make.
What is Posset?
It’s a dessert that originated in England as a creamy beverage curdled with wine, ale, or liquor and flavored with spices. But today’s posset is something altogether different: a chilled dessert with a luxurious texture that comes together almost by magic from nothing more than sugar, cream, and citrus juice. The three ingredients work perfectly together to get that silky, smooth texture. The citrus reacts with the cream (there is a whole chemical reaction that you can read about here) and causes the cream to thicken, while the sugar gives a silkiness to the texture.
Posset is one of those recipes where you can not make substitutions, except for changing the citrus. This is because you must have the fat in the heavy cream react with the acid in the citrus. So you can not use milk or lower-fat cream; it must be heavy cream; otherwise, you’ll be drinking your posset! The portions are meant to be small, usually just half a cup, so you don’t need to worry too much about the calories. Just dive right into the silky decadence and enjoy!
I will be experimenting with other citrus flavors, so stay tuned for more posset recipes!
Garnishes:
This dessert pairs well with a garnish of berries; blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or even sliced strawberries.
To add another layer of elegance to the dessert, I like to combine a teaspoon each of lime zest, lemon zest, and granulated sugar. Stir to combine, then sprinkle on top of the dessert. Trust me; you won’t regret this part one bit!
A dollop of cool whip or homemade whip cream, and you’re set to go!
Check out my other posset recipes:
Lemon/Lime Posset
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups heavy cream
- ¾ cups sugar
- 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Garnish
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- cool whip or homemade whipped cream, optional
Instructions
- Using a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream and sugar over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. If the boiling cream is bubbling too much, turn the heat down to medium, but maintain a boil. To prevent it from boiling over, lift the saucepan off the burner for a few seconds, return it to the burner and continue stirring.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the lemon and lime juice. Pour the mixture into the serving dishes. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or until set.
Garnish
- When ready to serve, zest one lemon and one lime (1 teaspoon of each). Mix with the sugar. Sprinkle over the posset and garnish with whipped cream (optional).
Notes
So very simple and so much goodness! Had never heard of posset before and I have missed out!!
Thank you for your feedback! Be sure to try my grapefruit posset as well. I have a few more varieties in the works, so say tuned!
Do you think it could be made as an orange or pineapple posset?
You can definitely use orange for this recipe. Pineapple should work too, though I haven’t tried it myself. The acid in the citrus fruit reacts with the cream to give you that creamy texture, and pineapples are certainly acidic. I would use 1/2 cup pineapple juice or orange juice and 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice.
Can bottled lime juice be used?
Yes
So yummy and so popular with my family! One large lemon was enough for this recipe, but I needed 3 limes as they were very small. There are “easy” recipes, and then there are “effortless” …most of the work is done in the refrigerator. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing!