Which British pudding from Sussex contains a whole lemon enclosed in suet pastry and surrounded by sauce?

Sussex pond pudding is a British pudding from Sussex containing a whole lemon enclosed in suet pastry and surrounded by sauce.

The pudding is traditionally steamed in a basin. As it cooks, butter and sugar melt around the lemon, producing a rich sauce. The lemon softens and releases juice, while its peel contributes a distinctive bitter-citrus flavour.

Historical recipes for Sussex pond pudding appear in English cookery writing from the nineteenth century. The pudding’s “pond” is the pool of butter and sugar that forms around the pastry when it is served.

Some modern recipes replace the whole lemon with several smaller lemons or alter the filling, but the classic identity depends on the enclosed citrus fruit. It is unrelated to lemon meringue pie, which uses a baked pastry shell and meringue topping.