Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

In the mood for Lemon Meringue pie but not in the mood for making a pie - its too much effort,  I had bookmarked a recipe on Pinterest for Lemon Meringue Cupcakes which was what I ended up making.

Kept some cupcakes plain as my son did not want the lemon curd.  

The recipe given below is adapted from Ohsweetbakery.blogspot.in - I reduced it to make 6 cupcakes instead of 12.

Ingredients

3/4 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
3/4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Eggs
1/4 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2  Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Extract
1 Tablespoons Lemon Zest
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C
2. Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners
3. Sift together dry ingredients together in a bowl
4. Mix in the egg, milk, oil, extracts and lemon zest.
5. Mix with an egg beater on medium speed for 2 minutes till well blended.
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full
7. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into one of your cupcakes comes out clean 
8. cool cupcakes completely before decorating

Lemon Curd

Courtesy joyofbaking

3 eggs
150 grams white sugar
80 ml fresh lemon juice
60 gms butter
1 tablespoon lemon zest

1. Over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. 
2. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent it from curdling, until the mixture becomes thick
3. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. 
4. Add the lemon zest and let cool. 
5. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. 
6. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

Note: 

• Room temperature lemons provide more juice. 
• Cold lemons are much easier to grate. 
• Grate lemons just before using as the zest will lose moisture if it sits too long.

Frosting

100 gms white sugar

40 ml water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, water and cream of tartar. 

Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbly.

In a medium mixing bowl, whip the egg whites and vanilla to soft peaks. 

Gradually add the sugar mixture while whipping constantly until stiff peaks form, about 7 to 10 minutes. 

Assembling

1. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, make a small hole in the top using a melon scooper.
2. Fill this with Lemon Curd
3. Using an icing bag frost the top of the cupcake with the 7 min frosting.
4. Place under a grill for 3 mins to brown the frosting, taking care not to let it burn

MERINGUES

One of the toughest things to find in Gurgaon or Delhi – meringues or meringue shells.  Fortunately one of the easier things to make if you have the time and inclination.  Made well, they are light and airy and only need a couple of ingredients to make them - something that can be found in most homes.  

The following recipe quantity is a reduced down version and is fairly simple. 

Serves – 8

Time – 30 mins + baking time

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 55 gms castor sugar
• 55 gms icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat a conventional oven to 110c.  Line a baking tray with butter paper
2. Separate the eggs when cold and bring the egg whites to room temp.  This is very necessary for beating the eggs to the required volume.  Using an electric beat, beat the eggs till they are fluffy and resemble a cloudy mass and should hold a stiff peak when the beater is lifted.
3. Gradually add in castor sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating well for 3-4 minutes between each addition.  When all the castor sugar is incorporated the mixture should be nice, thick and glossy.
4. Sift one third of the icing sugar over the mixture and fold in with a spoon.  Continue to sift in the balance till all is incorporated.  DO NOT OVERMIX.
5. Using a wet spoon, scoop up a tablespoon of the mixture and drop it on the baking sheet in rough rounds.  Or, place meringue mixture in pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe meringue onto parchment paper to form eight 3-in. cups
6. Bake for 1 1/4 hours or until the meringues are crisp.
7. Leave to cool on a cooling rack
8. Serve sandwiched with sweetened whipped cream or crumbled over ice cream