Let Them Eat Cake!

Day 2 of my Pastry Chef for a Week Class is all about cakes. But let's focus for a minute on those super cute, super trendy mini cakes--cupcakes!

I like this recipe for Lemon Meringue Cupcakes because it has a tender cake, the flavor burst of lemon curd (yum) and meringue on top instead of icing.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz unsalted butter, room temp

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temp

3 Tbsp finely grated lemon peel

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

Lemon Curd

Italian or Swiss meringue

Preheat oven to 325F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium high speed, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in lemon zest and vanilla. On low speed, add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with buttermilk and lemon juice. Mix just until incorporated after each addition.

Divide batter among cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake until light brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.

With a spoon or melon-baller, remove a little cake from the top of each cupcake and fill with about 1 Tbsp lemon curd (or you can just spread curd on top of cupcake). Pipe meringue onto cupcake, forming a peak. Brown tops with a torch or under the broiler.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

(recipe from Martha Stewart adapted by crc)