After all the cupcaking over the past month, you would think that I would want to take a break from cupcake baking. Erm... nope! After reading Maria's post, lemon meringue cupcakes have been on my "to bake" list for a while... a rather long while, I'm afraid. But I finally got around to it last weekend - and now I wonder why it took me so long!
I started off making the lemon curd, following a recipe that I found on taste.com.au (I have rewritten the overly complicated recipe below – there is enough curd there to make two batches of cupcakes). Next I baked the cupcakes, which is fairly easy, and waited for them to cool before I tackled the meringue. The meringue required a sugar thermometer and a stand mixer to make, but the end result was light, delicate, and delicious. I confess to eating rather a lot of meringue.... erm, let's just say
I was cleaning the beaters prior to washing up. Finally, after I had gorged on enough meringue, the cupcakes were assembled - I cut a small hole in the middle of each one, filled the holes with lemon curd, and then piped the meringue on top. Alastair expertly blow torched the meringue for me (and we won't discuss how he set a couple on fire!).
And the result? Ohmygod! They were amazing - heaven in a mini cake form. The cupcakes were really moist, and delightful with the gooey, sourish lemon curd and sweet fluffy meringue on top. Swoon!
If you like lemon based desserts, try these. It may seem like a lot of effort, but it's totally worth it!
For the cupcakes, see cuisine.com.au for the recipe.
Basic lemon curd
Adapted from taste.com.au
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
½ cup lemon juice
200g caster sugar
3 x 60g eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
100g unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes
This recipe makes more than you’ll need for 12 cupcakes so have a sterilised jar handy for the rest of the lemon curd (if you need instructions for sterilising a jar, go to the original recipe).
Place the lemon juice and sugar in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir to combine.
Pour the eggs through a sieve into a separate bowl, and use a wooden spoon to gently push the egg through.
Add the strained eggs to the juice and sugar mixture. Mix to combine. Bring the water to a gentle simmer and stir the mixture for about 20 minutes or until it thickens and thinly coats the back of the wooden spoon.
Remove the bowl from the pot and add the butter, a couple of pieces at a time, stirring until the butter melts and mixture is combined.
When you have stirred in all the butter, add the lemon rind and pour into sterilised jars. Cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge.
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