After a very long, and much needed break, I am back! I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and enjoyed some marvelous New Year’s parties and treats. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some lighter sweets. I have had so much chocolate in the past 14 days that I’m starting to look like I belong in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory!
Today’s cupcake recipe is one that I absolutely adore! It’s a combination of two yummy treats: 1) Lemon Meringue pie 2) Cupcakes!
This Lemon Meringue cupcake is great for a light dessert or an afternoon snack. Don’t be intimidated by the meringue, it’s pretty easy!
Lemon Cake
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups white sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 cup whole milk, divided
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Lemon Custard Filling
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter
In a large saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Mix well. Beat the egg yolks and water together, then whisk into sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and butter. Cover with plastic wrap until completely cooled.
Meringue Topping
- 4 egg whites
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- Pinch salt
Cupcake Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line 30 cupcake pan cups with paper liners.
- Sift the self-rising flour and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the unsalted butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each egg until incorporated before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Gently beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, one third at a time, alternating with half the milk and half the lemon juice after each of the first 2 additions of flour. Beat until just combined; do not over mix.
- Fill the prepared cupcake liners with batter 3/4 full, and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a rack.
- Fill a piping bag with the lemon custard. Fill the center of each cupcake with the custard. The easiest way to do this is to use an apple corer to remove a portion of the cupcake center.
Meringue Directions
- In a medium bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. In a second bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the sugar mixture, a little at a time, to the egg whites, beating between additions. Continue to beat until the suagr dissolves. Spoon the meringue into a piping bag. Pipe the meringue in peaks onto each cupcake. Torch the meringue to give it’s golden color – or bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Let cool and enjoy!
Till next time, stay sweet. xoxo
