Lime Possets With Mint and Mango Fruit Salad Recipe

Thickened with lime juice, this sweet cream pudding contains no gelatin, starch, or egg.

Overhead view of lime possets

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Why This Recipe Works

  • Adding acidic lime juice to the cream causes it to thicken into a spoonable dessert, while sugar balances the tart lime flavor.
  • With no eggs, no gelatin, and no starch to thicken the cream, the recipe is deceptively easy: the only thing required is the the time necessary for the cream to fully set.

I've written here once before aboutmy love of creamy things, which completely eclipses my desire for sweet things. Unsweetened whipped cream? Give it to me! Candy? Nah... Sweetened whipped cream? I'll take it (as long as the cream is there). I don't care what it is—crème anglaise,panna cotta,fools—if cream is involved, I'm all in.

No Eggs, No Gelatin, No Starch

If you're at all like me, then you should consider adding possets* to your creamy dessert repertoire. Incredibly easy to make, the only thing you need for posset is the time to allow it to thicken and set; at least several hours and preferably overnight. The best part is actually threefold: they don't use eggs like custards do (and therefore don't come with the risk of accidentally scrambling the egg by overcooking it), they don't require gelatin as, say, panna cotta does, and they don't call for a single type of starch to act as a thickener. The magic ingredient? Citrus juice.

*A note on terminology: posset, once upon a time, was a warm, thick, creamy beverage made with wine or ale, and served not just as a treat but as a remedy for poor health. Today, posset usually refers to the citrus-juice thickened pudding I'm writing about here, though some would argue that this is technically a variant of a syllabub, which is yet another variety of dairy thickened with an acidic fluid like wine or cider. Oh what funBritish dessertsare!

A glass bowl of sugar, pint mason jar of cream, and fresh limes, one cut in half

Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

The Magic of Citrus

The mechanics behind a posset are very simple: simmer cream with sugar until the sugar is dissolved, then add citrus juice, which thickens the cream into a pudding-like texture as it chills. The flavor is sweet-tart, kind of like a Creamsicle. Lemon and lime are the most common types of citrus used in possets, since they're on the higher end of the acidic spectrum* (or, if you're looking at it from the pH-scale POV where smaller numbers indicate more acidity, it'd technically be the lower end). Orange alone might not be acidic enough on its own, but you could do a combo of orange and lemon or lime to get the acidity high enough to coagulate the cream.

*If you're curious about why citrus juice works to thicken the cream, it's the same principle as yogurt, crème fraîche, and acid-coagulated cheeses like Indian paneer. Specifically, the acid causes tight little clusters of the milk protein called casein, which normally avoid each other, to break apart and then re-bond into a web-like structure that solidifies the dairy. In the case of yogurt and crème fraîche, it's lactic acid produced by bacteria that causes the thickening, but with posset it's just the simple addition of citrus juice.

Beyond that, the flavoring is entirely up to you. You can add grated citrus zest, as I did in the recipe here, or infuse the cream with other aromatics, like lemongrass, kaffir/makrut lime leaves, or spices. A tiny splash of an aromatic water like orange flower water or rose water would be good too, assuming you like floral flavors.

Here, I served it with a very simple mango and mint fruit salad and a dollop of whipped cream. That's right: In my book, a dessert made almost entirely of cream can indeed be improved with yet more cream on top.

Close-up of a glass dish of lime posset and diced mango and mint topped with whipped cream and mint sprig

Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

August 2014

Recipe Details

Lime Possets With Mint and Mango Fruit Salad Recipe

Prep10 mins
Cook5 mins
Active15 mins
Chill Time4 hrs
Total4 hrs 15 mins
Serves4 servings

Thickened with lime juice, this sweet cream pudding contains no gelatin, starch, or egg.

华体会应用下载

  • 2cupsheavy cream

  • 1/2cupsugar

  • Kosher salt

  • 1/2cupfresh lime juicefrom about 5 limes, plus zest of 1 lime

  • 1largeripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

  • 6largemint leaves, minced

  • Whipped cream, for serving

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together heavy cream, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.

    Overhead view of whisking sugar and heavy cream on a stove

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  2. Whisk in lime juice and zest. Pour cream mixture into glasses or ramekins, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until possets are set, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight.

    Pouring mixture into posset

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  3. In a medium bowl, toss together mango and mint. Spoon mango on top of possets, mound dollops of whipped cream on top, and serve right away.

    两个图像拼贴切芒果和薄荷和finished posset

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Special Equipment

Four 6-oz. glass dishes or ramekins

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Nutrition Facts(per serving)
591 Calories
44g Fat
50g Carbs
5g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 591
% Daily Value*
Total Fat44g 56%
Saturated Fat 28g 140%
Cholesterol137mg 46%
Sodium54mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate50g 18%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Total Sugars 45g
Protein5g
Vitamin C 58mg 289%
Calcium 102mg 8%
Iron 0mg 3%
Potassium 384mg 8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)