Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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.

24 comments:

  1. Um..... a dislocated shoulder and you managed to pull off these beauties? No fair... these are better than I'd make with a healthy shoulder! :) I'm looking forward to making these this weekend and so glad you posted the "how to's" - that helps a lot! Love the swirled frosting... I'm going to use my "new tip"! Rest up for your trip Judy!

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  2. Wow these look amazing! Thank you for all the tips; I'll be sure to use them! Your cupcakes look amazing!

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  3. Those cupcakes look absolutely PERFECTLY baked! Yummm! Oh, and I definitely want to try making that frosting. I'm "one of those people" who find SMB a little too buttery. :)

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  4. My mom and I made these and they were SOOOOO good! I loved the frosting so much. I think I had 2-3 cupcakes in 1 sitting. Nicely done! Hope that shoulder is doing better. Super excited for our May party in SoCal!!!

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  5. I love the frosting too..part of the reason why I loved the Coconut Cupcakes. Anyway yrs look great, and I am excited to make the lemon curd.
    Look after yrself and dont stress.
    Neev

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  6. Piping the curd into the cupcake is way better!! Looks and sounds delicious!

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  7. Yummmmm!Your cupcakes look so elegant and sound DELISH! Love the lemon/lemon curd combination and the meringue icing looks so amazing too! Which tip or technique did you use to fill the cupcakes? I find that I can never get enough filling in mine :)

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  8. i used the ateco 804 (pictured above). you can click on the image to enlarge it. it's one of those jumbo tips. works pretty well. just jam it into the center of your cupcake and squeeze. =)

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  9. you cease to amaze me, mrs judy. shoulder debauchle AND you've managed to just casually whip these up!? nice!!! they look so very loverly. They are one of my fave's so far...but as a lemon lover much like yourself, whats not to like right!?!? ((i made them twice this month!!)) anyways, your swirls are wonderfully meringue-y. :D

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  10. Wow, your cupcakes look awesome! Put mine to shame, that's for sure. Then again, I did run out of time to make the lemon curd, but I fully intend to make these again, complete with the lemon curd!! Awesome baking!!

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  11. I'm so jealous that your Lemon Curd turned out so beautifully! This was my first time making it and it didn't quite turn out. Oh well, I'll just have to try again!

    Love the photos!

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  12. These are lovely and the lemon curd sounds wonderful. I found your blog by chance but will be back often to see your latest creations.

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  13. As always, your photos & post are fabulous!

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  14. Beautiful cuppies! I am glad you got the curd to work on the first try! You did a fabulous job. What are you doing with all the extra curd?? Yum. Martha has a crepe cake with curd in between the layers which sounds fab!

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  15. Talk about dedication. And they came out beautifully.

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  16. The relief that I feel knowing you have queued up content for us readers is immense!

    And, my cupcake class sucked. Getting those swirls right is hard work. Do you have photos of the first ones you ever did?

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  17. I'm glad your shoulder is feeling better - that injury sounds painful! Great job on the cupcakes - they look gorgeous as always! I love that you filled them with the lemon curd. I scooped out the tops and filling mine too since the lemon curd was so delicious :)

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  18. Hi everyone!!! thanks so much for all your supportive comments! i'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond, i've been in cali and work has consumed just about every minute of my day! when i get back to my room at night, i'm just dead tired and can't find the energy to go online. hehe. you guys rock! i feel like i'm missing out on so many good food blog entries! =/

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  19. I'm sorry about your arm and withdrawal. I can certainly relate to the latter, but you're definitely no less of a blogger b/c other parts of your life demand more attention right now. These look perfect as usual.

    PS - I know you're crazy busy these days but I've been meaning to ask you if you had any tips about getting cupcakes with a nice round top that don't sink. Mine have been coming out kinda flat lately :(.

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  20. Hi Judy. I am such a big fan of your blog. My husband loves lemon cupcakes so I HAD to try these out. They looked exactly like in the picture but I was surprised they turned out more like a biscuit and not light and airy like a cupcake. Is that how they are supposed to be? Just curious if I did something wrong.

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  21. Hi Kim - this is a great recipe. the crumb should be super light and fluffy! I think you must have missed a step. =)

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  22. Hi Judy. I know this is a really late reply to this post but I thought I would ask anyway. How do these cupcakes stack up against your lemon blueberry cupcakes? I am making some cupcakes for an event and am dithering between these two. I am assuming that the lemon flavor in the batter of these would give it an edge over the plain vanilla batter of the blueberry version. Any thoughts?

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    1. The lemon blueberry cupcakes are definitely better! The blueberry frosting is outta this world. if you like the cake of this one better, you can mix the two. how about use this cupcake with the other blueberry frosting?! That combination would be amazing! Good luck!

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