Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Wow, it feels like ages since I last blogged, but in reality, my last post was only a week ago. I really don't like this once-a-week-blogging thing. It makes me feel like less of a blogger. hehe. I'm definitely going through a little bit of blogging withdrawal and need my blogging fix more often. Oh well, I better get used to it, I suppose. This is how it'll be until June. So sad. (Click here if you're out of the loop and have no idea what I'm talking about. hehe)

In other news, I'm happy to report that in my mad baking frenzy last week, I was able to queue up enough posts for at least once a week from now until June! Yay!

I only have a few more days here in Seattle (through the end of this week), and I still have so much to do! I'm kind of up in a panic these days, actually. I experienced a few bumps in the road this past week that put me behind schedule on my packing...the main one being the fact that I had a slight dislocation of my left shoulder! That put me out of commissions for a couple of days. Luckily, I'm back on my feet today, or um...arm, rather and am able to type this entry! hehe.

This is the March recipe for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. I really like all things lemon, so I knew immediately that this cupcake and I would be BFFs.


It's a lemon cupcake, filled with lemon curd and topped with a light meringue frosting. Deeeeelish!

(1) Lemon Cupcakes

Sift together the dry ingredients.


Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs.


Beat in lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.

Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.

Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes.


(2) Lemon Curd

For step by step instructions and photos on how to make lemon curd, click HERE.

After the lemon curd had a chance to chill and set, I spooned it into a piping bag with a large round tip.


Then I used it to inject the lemon curd into the cupcake. This way, it'll have a nice lemony filling! (The recipe says to just spread the lemon curd on the cupcake, then follow with the frosting.)

(3) The Meringue Frosting

Sorry, I don't have step by step photos for this, but it's a lot similar to the IMB, only minus the butter step. You can reference this entry for detailed photos on IMB.


I really like this frosting! It's exactly the same as IMB, only you don't add any butter what so ever. You whip up egg whites until soft peaks, then pour in hot sugar syrup. For people who complain that there's too much butter in the IMB/SMB, this is a really good alternative. (Bryn, you'd like this one!) It comes out SUPER light and fluffy.

It stiffens up a little bit if you leave it out. So you have to pipe it on immediately. It will hold its shape really well- awesome swirls, but you have to work quickly. This is not to say that it's stiff or hard when you bite into it. It's still super soft, airy, and delicious!

A really interesting frosting. Definitely worth trying.


You can see more clearly in this picture that the frosting holds its shape, even when it's half falling off of the cupcake. Weird, huh? Weird, but fabulous! Mmmm... look at that yummy lemon filling!

You can also fire up a kitchen torch and brown the edges of the frosting, kinda like what you'd do for marshmallow. I didn't have time for it, but it would've been really pretty.

Since I'm short on time these days, I'm going to wrap this up quickly. Simply put, there's my opinion on these cupcakes:

(1) Must try, especially if you're a lemon fan
(2) Super delicious flavors, with a very unique frosting
(3) Would definitely make these again
(4) One of my favorite cupcakes

Ok, see you all next week! I'll be in Cali by then! =)




Click HERE for the recipes.