At a glance

Simmer heavy cream with sugar and cracked cardamom until the mixture measures 2 cups. Add fresh lemon juice off the heat, then strain and chill for at least 4 hours. Finish each cup with toasted pistachios, sesame and honey.

Cardamom Lemon Posset

Prep 15 min · Cook 25 min · Cool and chill 4 hr 20 min · Total 5 hr · Yield 4 ramekins

Ingredients & directions

Set lemon cream with pistachio-sesame crunch

Ingredients

Lemon cream

Pistachio, sesame and honey

Heavy cream, lemons, sugar, cardamom pods, pistachios, sesame and honey

Use a 2-quart stainless saucepan, a fine-mesh strainer, a 4-cup heatproof measuring jug, a small skillet and four 6-ounce (180 mL) heatproof ramekins. Wash the lemons before zesting. Measure the juice after straining.

Directions

  1. Cracked cardamom pods in gently bubbling cream

    Simmer the cardamom cream

    Put the cream, sugar, cracked cardamom, zest and salt in the saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and bubbles spread across the surface. Lower the heat to maintain a steady bubble. Stir often and watch the pan so the cream does not climb the sides. Reduce to about 2 cups (480 mL), usually 10 to 16 minutes. Check the volume in the heatproof measuring jug and pour the cream back into the pan after each check.

  2. Lemon cream pouring through a fine-mesh strainer into a jug

    Stir in lemon and strain

    Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the measured lemon juice and let stand for 2 minutes. The cream should lightly coat a spoon and still pour freely. Strain into the jug to catch the pods and zest. Tap the strainer gently if needed and leave the solids behind.

  3. Four ramekins of smooth lemon cream on a tray before chilling

    Portion and chill until set

    Divide the cream among four ramekins, about a generous ½ cup (140 mL) each. Let them cool on a tray for about 20 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight. A set posset should wobble softly when nudged, with no liquid running across the surface.

  4. A fine thread of honey over set lemon cream with toasted pistachios and sesame

    Toast the crunch and finish one cup at a time

    Toast the pistachios and sesame in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring, until the sesame turns pale gold. Tip onto a plate and cool, then scatter over the cold possets. Drizzle 1 teaspoon (5 mL) plain honey over a plain ramekin. For an infused ramekin, measure the labeled honey first, then add enough plain honey to make 1 teaspoon total. Mix in a separate cup and drizzle over that identified ramekin.

Storage Keep the covered plain possets at 40°F (4°C) or colder and use within 2 days. Chill within 2 hours of cooking (1 hour above 90°F/32°C). Store the toasted topping separately at room temperature in an airtight container and add it when serving. Keep infused honey in its labeled container and secured.

Serving with THC Use only a labeled oral product for consenting adults of legal age where permitted. Health Canada suggests choosing 2.5 mg THC or less if you are new to edibles. Effects can take up to 4 hours to fully develop. Avoid taking more during that time. Do not drive or operate machinery after using cannabis. Label infused food, keep it apart from plain food, and lock it away from children and pets.

Kitchen notes

A soft set and a crisp topping

If the cream is still loose

Give it a full night in the fridge. For the next batch, check the cream has at least 36% milk fat, verify the hot cream has reduced to 2 cups and measure the lemon juice. Half-and-half can give an unreliable set.

If you see flecks

Strain while the cream is still warm. If the cream itself is grainy, use a gentler simmer next time and add the juice with the pan off the heat.

Make it without cannabis

Use plain orange blossom honey on each cup. The chilled base contains no infusion. The topping contains pistachios and sesame.

Use the product label

Estimate THC in a portion

Enter only the labeled infused honey measured for one ramekin. Weigh it if the label is in grams. Use a matching volume measure if the label is in milliliters. Use the same unit for the label amount and the amount used.

Enter the label values and the amount you used.

The estimate is for what you add to one serving. Product variation and any finish left on the spoon can change the amount consumed.

THC in one portion = label THC (mg) × amount used ÷ label amount.

For example, a hypothetical label of 10 mg THC per 20 mL and a measured 2 mL give 10 × 2 ÷ 20 = 1 mg THC added. Enter the values from your own product.

Serve it plain if you cannot verify the label or measure the amount in the label’s units.

Recipe and safety references