I keep meaning to try that - it seems super yummy.

I think the citric acid is what causes the cream to thicken.

Carol, the microwave recipe induced me to try it. Another recipe called for boiling the cream for 5 minutes stirring constantly. I knew I was unlikely to do that! I happened to have all the ingredients on had (cream, sugar, and lemons) and thought, why not??

If you heat just the cream to 190 and add just lemon juice, it makes a curd for creamy cheese. In the lower temps for a posset, the acid thickens but the dairy does not curd like it can when the cream is higher temp. The sugar stabilizes the dairy protiens so it is more smooth, and increases surface tension, which helps prevent curd formation.

You can use other acid in a posset, like vinegar.

I recently referenced an article (can’t recall the souce just now— maybe food52?) that used citric acid in conjunction with fruits like cranberry or grapefruit.

Glad to know that you enjoyed it.

I was a bit disappointed when I made ricotta— it tasted like sour milk and I just couldn’t enjoy it.

I made strawberry posset last summer. I was a bit disappointed as expected it to set up more than it did. In that particular recipe, it seemed a waste of delicious strawberries to use them as a puree. I was wishing I had made the posset plain or lemon and spooned it over the ripe strawberries instead. That would have been delicious and would have had a more interesting texture.

This is a picture of the posset I made. No garnish because this is an experiment. It held its shape on the spoon and the divot where it had been take from the cup also held its shape. The second smaller divot was from early this morning when I wanted to see how it tasted. So it had held its shape for 3 or 4 hours.

Does this texture look right?

Lisaam, ATK recently did an article on making posset with citric acid. It is behind a paywall and I cannot read it. https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/articles/7172-turn-any-juice-into-posset

Fun2B, what acid did you use to set the cream? I wouldn’t think ripe strawberries would be acidic enough.

“How have I not known about this before...?”

Um...because posset is mentioned in old books as sick food?

The Jacques Pepín recipe sounds much nicer than shivering in bed comforts.

Congratulations!

@lisaam when I've made ricotta it has been sweet from the milk. I do use whole milk, though, if that matters. Specifically, Clover Organic. And white wine vinegar (not regular white vinegar). Ina's recipe. Very soft, but can be drained further.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-ricotta-recipe-1923290

I never have all the ingredients for recipes for goodies I see here.

Until now!

Posset tonight, probably tomorrow. Thanks,

Long ago posset would be curdled with alcohol instead of acid. And served warm. More like a warm spiked eggnog or Tom & Jerry. Various alcoholic beverages depending, but the higher the alcohol content, the greater the diary wants to break into large curd instead of saying a creamy drink. So ale, mead, fortified wine, but not much hard liquor was used. Sometimes spices and juices were added. It was drunk at the time it was made if possible. At one point, it went out of popularity. In this drink form at least.

When posset drink came to the U.S. with the settlers, it changed from a hot drink to a cold one, eggs got added, and turned into eggnog. Eggnog became the drink for the sick, particularly of note for nourishing soldiers in the Civil War, and as a winter restorative to the founding fathers. Eggnog tends to have more hard alcohol than what was used in the old posset drink.

Posset got revamped to become more like the already popular syllabub in the latter 1800's, as in the more cold and set dessert. It pretty much lost the alcohol the syllabub kept, and picked up non-alcoholic curdling instead. On a flip side, syllabub also had a popular drink form, to later die off.

Posset the dessert sort of was replaced by custard. Cows, and their dairy, was ownable by some folks, and was not allowed to others. Fowl, and their eggs, was not restricted. So the eggy with cream replaced the cream curdled with acid as the more accessable option for some folks. And because it's good, it became popular.

Not much later, posset dessert was a food for the wealthy, like gelatin and ice cream. While gelatin and ice cream later became accessable by more people, posset got lost. Cream is always expensive, lol.

So, I think posset went out of popularity due to expense and likely some societial reasons rather than it's reputation as a food for the sick. Other less expensive foods for the sick also became more popular over this time too. Like chicken soup :)

@bbstx, I used lemon juice, but I think my lemons (from my own trees) must not have been acidic enough because the consistency was more like thickened cream.

hmmm… very interesting, beesneeds.

Fun2B, some lemons seem to be much more acidic than others. Of course, I only have experience with the grocery store variety.

Great info, Beesneeds! I had no idea! I was joking about the sick food, but it's truly the only place I've encountered the word before today.

Here's a Mary Berry recipe. I've never eaten it either.

LEMON POSSET BY MARY BERRY

yield: 6 PEOPLE prep time: 7 MINUTES cook time: 3 MINUTES chilling time: 4 HOURS total time: 4 HOURS 10 MINUTES

Mary Berry's classic lemon posset - a delicious, creamy and zesty dessert that's perfect to serve at a dinner party and easily made in advance. This dessert is so elegant but really packs a citrus punch. Lemon Possets contain only 3 ingredients!

4.6 Stars (191 Reviews)PRINT

INGREDIENTS

• 3 lemons
• 600 ml double cream
• 150 g caster sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Zest and juice three lemons
2. Pour 600ml double cream into a large saucepan and add ¾ of the lemon zest and 150g caster sugar
3. Bring to the boil stirring continuously then simmer for 3 minutes
4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly then whisk in the lemon juice
5. Transfer to a glass jug and pour into serving dishes
6. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 4 hours (or overnight)
7. When you're ready to serve - sprinkle over the remaining lemon zest and a couple of lemon thyme leaves if you're feeling fancy!
8. Serve with shortbread biscuits

NOTES

LEMON POSSET TOP TIPS

• Make sure you buy unwaxed lemons
• Rub lemons on the kitchen worktop before you begin to get the most juice from them
• Zest before juicing
• When zesting rub the grater on the lemon as opposed to the lemon on the grater
• When you're heating the double cream, watch it like a hawk and stir continuously otherwise it will boil over
• Let the cream and sugar cool slightly before adding the lemon juice so it doesn't curdle
• Pour the mixture into a glass jug and then transfer to the dish you are using to avoid spillage
• Lemon possets can be frozen. Defrost in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

Thanks, IC. I am so puzzled that most recipes call for boiling/simmering the cream for quite a while, but the Jacques Pepin recipe that I used only microwaved the cream for 1 minute. I microwaved it for an additional 30 seconds because it did not seem quite hot enough after a minute. I know for a fact that it never boiled. And Pepin’s recipe was based on the recipe by Claire Clark, former head pastry chef at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry.

Thank you for posting this. I am so not a foodie and never heard of posset. This was so interesting to read and now that I watched the video I am amazed at how simple it seems.

I never have heavy cream but that's simple to rectify!

Talk about simplicity and reading all the comments here it sure sounds like a wonderful and impressive treat.

I always have heavy cream because I tend to buy skimmed milk. IME, some dishes just don’t do well with reduced-fat milk, so I have the cream on hand to boost the fat content of the milk. I have this chart stored on my recipe app.

The chart shows in the draft mode but not when I hit submit, so here is another attempt to add the information

Whole Milk Equivalents Using Skim Milk

INGREDIENTS

1.5 t heavy cream= 1% milk

1 T heavy cream= 2% milk

2 T heavy cream= whole milk

5 T 1t heavy cream= half-&-half

9 T heavy cream= light cream

2 T half & half= 1% milk

3 T half & half= 2% milk

4 T half & half= whole milk

PREPARATION

Add cream in measuring cup. Top up with skim milk to one cup

That’s so helpful, @bbstx. Thank you for posting the conversion. It’s going into the front of my cookbook.

Yes, thank you, bbstx! We use/drink skim milk, so that is helpful.

I'm always amazed by how smart you GWers are. I'm on this for dessert this weekend, maybe served with home grown blueberries.

I made the Jacques Pepin’s recipe yesterday. Thank you @bbstx.

It was easy and good, but not a ‘must serve it again soon‘ for us. For the calories I rather eat straight whipping cream. 😊

You’re right, maddielee. Same calorie count as whipped cream, but I’m whipped cream averse. Interestingly, so are my grandchildren. Next time I’m at their house, I’ll have to make posset for them to try.

This seems really interesting to me. Does the sugar serve a purpose other than to add sweetness or can you omit it? Whipped cream by itself without sugar is plenty sweet for me, hence asking. I like more of a sour taste so why this appeals to me.

Lyfia, I have no idea. My initial reaction is that the lemon juice would too tart without the sugar to mute the tartness. However, I am the opposite of you. I cannot stand sour or really tart. I dislike salads because most salad dressings are too sour/tart for me.

I’ve wondered how it would be with artifcial sweetner. But then if you are going to eat a bunch of cream, what’s a little sugar?

@bbstx - that might be. I might try it though in a small amount and see. Not a huge fan of artificial sweeteners, but I'm not afraid of eating fat as it doesn't affect my blood sugar like sugar does and I don't need to take insulin for it (type 1 diabetic).

I’ve read that to get a better taste, mix two artificial sweetners. For instance, if I am making sugar-free lemonade from scratch, I’ll replace half the sugar with Truvia and half with Splenda.

I picked up more cream today. I’m going to make another batch of posset cooking the cream. And then maybe I’ll make a 3rd batch with artificial sweetners. And by that time, I’ll be so tired of eating it that I’ll never make it again. 😂

I've eaten lemon posset often but not made it. I leave that to my son in law.

I would not mess with the basic recipe. If you are going to eat dessert just eat dessert. Use the best ingredients and enjoy it. The portion size is quite small but it is so rich you can't eat much. Nigel Slater's recipe is good. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/dec/14/foodanddrink.shopping2?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16927414948145&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Flifeandstyle%2F2003%2Fdec%2F14%2Ffoodanddrink.shopping2

Along with sweetness, sugar does add body to things, I think...

So I gave in to the thread and made posset the other night. It was delightful. Set a bit softer than I would have liked. I should have adjusted the acid since I used fresh lime instead of lemon. But limes are what I had on hand and I didn't think about it till later. It was a cup of cream plus sugar and juice, so I split it across four 4-oz jars and then dropped a few frozen blueberries into each before putting them into the fridge.

I made it again yesterday. Even a very small amount seems to satisfy my sweet tooth!

Agreed. That's why I split it into four jars. Very rich.

Last night I made posset using the Nigel Slater recipe posted by @floraluk2. I’m torn over which I like best.

The Jacques Pepin recipe could not be easier, microwave cream and sugar for a minute or two, stir in lemon juice, pour into small dishes and refrigerate.

The Nigel Slater recipe requires constant stirring while the cream and sugar come to a boil and then constant stirring for 3 minutes while the cream simmers. Add lemon juice off the heat, pour into small dishes, and refrigerate. The few minutes of stirring isn’t exactly heavy lifting.

The Nigel Slater recipe yields something that is more like a lemon custard. The Jacques Pepin recipe is more like a sauce that is thick enough to hold its shape.

Here is my bottom line: If I’m making it so I’ll have a bit of sweet something for myself, I’ll make the Jacques Pepin recipe. If I am making dessert for company, I’ll make the Nigel Slater recipe. If company is coming and I don’t have 10 minutes to stir cream, they’ll get the Jacques Pepin recipe and probably never know the difference!