Idea behind:
A lemon meringue pie in a cupcake and much more interesting than just a lemon cupcake. Instead of a traditional frosting/icing, a meringue 'hat' acts as the decoration.
The cake:
I thought for this recipe I would try to make the batter minus the egg whites. The idea was to shadow the pie crust of a lemon meringue with a denser cake. I think this was a mistake. Next lot I will definitely use the egg whites as it will allow me to inject more of the lemon curd into the centre and give the over cake a lighter feel. I used the lemon zest and the left over lemon juice from the curd in the cake batter. I added it after the eggs but before the flour and milk.
Lemon Curd:
My traditional lemon meringue pie curd called for the use of corn flour to make it thicker. I had made a normal lemon curd before and felt that it was the right consistency so decided to go for that rather than the traditional recipe. I did however leave out the lemon zest as this would block the needle. I felt that the curd was spot on and doesn't need any adjustments. Just need more of it - which the lighter cake will allow.
Meringue:
Used 2 whites with 1/2 cup of icing sugar, a dash of vanilla, and a teaspoon of cornflour. Very first impression was that they definitely needed to be cooked longer and slower - probably at about 150 degrees for 30-45 minutes. They were too eggy to the taste and I feel that a slight crunch may be benefitial. Inject longer and slower and I need to ensure that there is a large dollop of curd onto to allow the meringue to stick to the cake.
Main points:
- egg whites into the batter mixture
- more curd should be injected
- make the meringues first - slower and longer.
