Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Making lemon meringue cupcakes can be quite a laborious process that can require a bit of elbow grease but what I'm about to present to you is the cheats version! Maximum reward with minimum effort! This is how you do it...

Step 1: Cupcakes
Firstly, I use my absolute fool proof basic vanilla cupcake recipe. I have never made a bad batch of cupcakes with this recipe from Nigella Lawson. It can be found in her book called "How To Be A Domestic Goddess" and on her website.

Ingredients:
125g self-raising flour
125g caster sugar
125g soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius and line a tin with muffin cases. (I used a mini cupcake pan).
2. Put all the ingredients (except the milk) in a bowl and mix in a food processor or electric mixer till smooth.
3. Add the milk and beat till a soft, dropping consistency is achieved.
4. Spoon the batter into the cases and bake for approximately 10 minutes for mini cupcakes or 15-20 minutes for regular sized cupcakes.
5. Allow them to cool on a wire rack.

Step 2: Lemon curd

Now if you want to make your own curd from scratch, be my guest but if you need to whip out a batch of these fast, then buy it from a store! Shhh! I won't tell anyone if you don't! There are some really great lemon curds out there and you should be able to find them in the jam section of your local supermarket. Now it's time to fill the cupcakes.

1. Use a small knife and carefully cut a shallow hole in each cupcake. I insert the knife at a shallow angle and rotate the cupcake around. The most important thing is that you should try not to cut all the way to the bottom of the cupcake. The lemon curd might spill out and your guests will end up with sticky fingers!
2. Place the lemon curd in a piping bag and fill each cupcake.

Step 3: Meringue

The final step is quite simple. Just beat some egg white and caster sugar together. I got the proportions of egg to sugar from Home Life.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

155g caster sugar

1. Using a electric mixer, beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form.
2. Gradually add the sugar and beat after each addition. Continue to beat until the sugar dissolves.
3. Fill a piping bag with the meringue mixture and using a round nozzle, pipe onto each cupcake. 
4. Now if you're like me and don't have a blow-torch, you can still achieve a bronzed look by popping these little cakes under the grill for a few minutes until they're golden brown on top.

If you need to make these in advance, you can store them in the fridge. They keep for a few days.

Congratulations! You've reached the end. Not too hard was it? Your guests will love these cute little cakes and the lemony surprise inside! Enjoy the compliments! Na xo