Citrus Self-saucing Pudding

This pudding is made with a particular cultivar of grapefruit, which is not bitter. I would not recommend using red ruby grapefruit. A lemon version works just as well !

A friend told me about this new range of grapefruit which is available at Woolworths. I normally associate grapefruit with a bitter flavour, but this is pleasantly sweet with a slightly sweet counterbalance.

I really wanted to bake a beautiful citrus upside down cake, but I was chasing deadlines for most of the week, so had very little time to bake. I opted to bake this simple grapefruit self-saucing pudding , which comes together in a flash and is eaten soon out of the oven.

To finish, I dusted with icing sugar and poached citrus slices. Oh, and how could I forget the Madagascan vanilla bean ice-cream. If you make this recipe, please share it with me by tagging me on Instagram @adventureswithsugar or on Facebook at Adventures with Sugar.

Edit: This post was last edited on 19 July 2025. I initially made this with a special cultivar of a sweeter grapefruit. I do not recommend using ruby grapefruit as it is far too bitter. I have since adapted the recipe to use oranges and lemons as it is more accessible. This recipe can easily be doubled if you want to feed more than 6 people.

PUDDING

• 120g cake flour
• 40g ground almonds
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 100g white sugar
• 60g butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 Tbs orange zest
• 125ml milk

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Grease a medium size oven proof dish. A 20cm round dish is best, or even a 20cm square tin.
2. Rub the orange zest with the sugar to release the aromas and oils.
3. Add in the melted butter, followed by the egg and vanilla essence and continue to whisk.
4. Add in the lemon juice and milk and stir to combine.
5. Sift in the cake flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt together and add to the wet ingredients to form a batter.
6. Pour into the baking dish and set aside, whilst making the sauce.

SAUCE

• 75g sugar
• 75ml orange juice
• 50ml lemon juice
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 250ml boiling water

METHOD

1. Sprinkle the sugar over the batter.
2. Mix the lemon juice, orange juice, cornflour and boiling water together.
3. Pour over the sauce onto to the batter. Use the back of the large spoon to ensure that the sauce does not hit the batter with force and create pockets in the batter.
4. Bake for around 30 – 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake part comes out clean. The top would have slightly browned.
5. Allow to sit for five minutes, then dust with icing sugar and serve (with cream or ice cream).