Lemon Mystery Cake

My mother spent the last year putting together a new Family Cookbook for all of us.  It's kind of a family thing we do every 10 years or so.  My extended family is flowered with many wonderful cooks, and having a book of everyones' favorite recipes is a true treasure.

Anyway, I have begun to cook from it, and I thought those of you in the larger interweb world might like to try a recipe or two or three from it once in a while.
Here is one that I tried last night.  It's my mom's Mystery Lemon Cake.  This "cake" is indeed very mysterious.  First of all, I have no idea where my mother got this recipe (maybe she can chime in and solve that mystery)...  secondly, the way that this "cake" actually becomes a cake is completely mysterious to me.  You make this soupy lemon egg mixture, with very little flour, and fold in some egg whites, and somehow, through the chemistry and magic of baking, this dessert comes out of the oven that has cake on top and pudding on the bottom.  Very mysterious.  Even yet more mysterious is how easy this thing actually is to make, and yet it still turns out very very awesomely good (and impressive, I might add!)
Mystery abounds!


Here is a very mysterious song to get you in the mood for cooking this mysterious pudding-cake.   

Lemon Mystery Cake

1/4 cup flour 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 cup lemon juice 

1 cup milk 

1 cup sugar 

1 Tb grated lemon zest 

2 egg yolks 

2 stiffly beaten egg whites 

Preheat oven to 350.  

Blend flour, sugar, and salt.  Stir in zest, juice, egg yolks, and milk.  

Fold in egg whites.  

Pour into 1 qt. baking dish or 6 custard cups, and set in a pan of hot water (1" deep).  -- this step is very important, as this thing cooks like a custard.  

Bake 40-50 minutes (until golden brown on top).  

It should be cake on the top with lemon custard on the bottom.  

YUM.