I feel preoccupied and overwhelmed. I am 5 weeks away from giving birth to our third child. The kids and Bubba are anxious to meet him. We play the name game at least once a day. G wants to name him Gus or dude. C thought of Owen. Not bad. In fact, Owen was on our short list before G was born. I play along with the name game. I act excited about our new baby; but really I am scared, anxious and overwhelmed. I am not worried about labor and delivery, I know what to expect. I know months of sleepless nights are ahead of me. I know it will take a year before my body looks and feels good. I was here, in this place, twice before, but it feels different this time. This is my last pregnancy. He is my last baby. I will never go through this again, yet all I can think about is not dropping the ball on the other two. All I can think about is: how will I manage this? Bubba is more confident than I am. He reassures me daily that I/we will figure it out. We will, we will, I will…a mantra I’ll repeat to myself over and over again.

I debated for a long time about what to make this week. I crave citrus in the winter so I had to make something that would satisfy my craving. Torn between making a healthy dish or a dessert; I opted for dessert. I know this is a month to eat more kale and wheat berries, and possibly even try a detox smoothie, but I said no thanks. Instead, I made a grapefruit pudding cake. This pudding cake is the perfect dessert to eat after the holidays. It is light and refreshing; something I welcome after several weeks of heavy, yet, delicious desserts.

There are many lemon pudding cake recipes, but I opted for grapefruit. The zest and the juice from the grapefruit gave just the right amount of tartness to this dish. I do love lemon desserts, but sometimes I find lemon a bit overwhelming.

A couple of days ago, I bought 6 ramekins at Sur La Table. This was my first time baking with ramekins and I think I’m hooked. They really take the presentation up a notch. When the cakes come out of the oven they are puffy and golden with a warm and gooey pudding/curd waiting underneath the light and airy cake. I think they taste best warm or at room temperature. I like them topped with fresh fruit like blackberries or raspberries.

The batter only takes about 15-20 minutes to make. The cakes bake for about 40-45 minutes. You can prep the batter up to 4 hours in advance. Just refrigerate, covered, until ready to bake. This dessert is a nice option for entertaining since it doesn’t require too much effort, but makes you look like a dessert making rock star!

Grapefruit Pudding Cake

recipe adapted from Real Simple

serves 6

Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 cup milk ( I used 1% but whole milk will work well)

1 tsp. finely grated grapefruit zest

1/3 cup fresh grapefruit juice

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350° F. Place six 4-ounce ramekins inside a large roasting pan. ( You can also use a two-quart baking dish instead, but the baking times will change.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and flour and set aside. In another medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and melted butter until well combined. Whisk in the milk and grapefruit zest and juice. Add the grapefruit mixture to the sugar mixture. Whisk until smooth.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt on medium-high until stiff peaks form about 3 minutes. Do not overbeat! Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon-sugar mixture in 3 additions.

Pour the pudding evenly into the ramekins or baking dish. (At this point the pudding cakes can be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 hours before baking.) Add enough hot water to the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins or baking dish. Bake until tops are golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes for cakes in ramekins. (It will take 30 to 35 minutes for a cake in a 2 quart baking dish.) Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with fresh berries. Enjoy!

5 Delicious Pudding Recipes To Try Now

Do you like chocolate pudding? How about midnight black chocolate pudding? Head to Joy the Baker’s Blog for her recipe. This might just be the perfect dessert to make for Valentine’s Day.

I loved instant banana pudding when I was a kid. The addition of salted caramel sauce takes this banana pudding up a notch. Yum!

Tapioca pudding sounds a bit retro for dessert these days, but I still love it. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for coconut tapioca pudding with mango makes it fresh again. Try it!

Want to learn how to make your own instant vanilla pudding mix? Head here.

How about a healthy pudding full of fiber, anti-oxidants and omega-3 to keep your January health kick going? Martha has a recipe for you.