Some delicious cupcakes with tart lemon to cut the very sweet meringue, and an excuse to get out your blowtorch, which is always fun! I made these with my former ‘Summertime Cake Series’ partner, but his life has changed enough that we had to buy sugar and borrow a cupcake tin!
We found that this made enough cupcake batter that, to avoid overflowing, we put some extra in an 8×8, and that worked fine too. You can absolutely make your own lemon curd, but…not everyone has time for that!
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
- 3 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 4 large egg whites
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
To assemble:
- 1 10 ounce jar of lemon curd
To make the cupcakes, first preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 cupcake tins with liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar while continuing to beat to medium peaks. (No, I’d never heard of medium peaks before either, but you can figure it out.) Set the egg whites aside.
peaky
In another large bowl, combine the 4 egg yolks, oil, water, vanilla, and zest. Beat until well combined.
Add the yolk mixture gradually to the dry ingredients, beating while you pour it in. Add enough of the yolk mixture until the dry goods form a paste, then stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl, before continuing to add the remaining yolk mixture. Beat another 2 minutes on medium speed.
Gently blend 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining whites.
Fill each cupcake paper 2/3-3/4 full. If you also feel like you’ll have too much, bake it separately too!
Bake for 20 minutes (checking any extra in a cake pan sooner if it is a thin layer), until the top springs back when gently touched. Let cool in the pans several minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool, or at least turn on their sides to let steam out from the bottoms. Cool before continuing.
To make the meringue buttercream, combine the egg whites and sugar in a clean bowl that can be used as the top of a double boiler. Stir until blended
Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmer water, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 140 degrees. I didn’t have a candy thermometer, so just kept an eye on the sugar and guessed. Transfer the bowl to your stand mixer or a hotplate on the counter and beat on high speed until the meringue is thick, glossy, and reaches the stiff peak stage.
Using a piping bag full of lemon curd with a large plain tip (or a ziplock with the corner cut off and a funnel wedged through – we’re improvising!) insert the tip into the center of the cupcake and squeeze gently until you can just see a bit of curd around the tip. Repeat, filling each cupcake, and if needed stabbing curd into your separate cake as well.
Innovation!
Top with meringue, also using the piping bag, or just using a spoon as desired.
There was enough for the bare 4, but apparently some people can’t handle the sugar 😉 I want more of the Thai noodles in the back!
Toast lightly with a kitchen torch or under the broiler until golden brown to finish.
teamwork, dream work, etc
Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
Adapted from Unicorn Love, formerly CakeSpy.
Cupcakes:
- 3 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 4 large egg whites
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
To assemble:
- 1 10 ounce jar of lemon curd
To make the cupcakes, first preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 cupcake tins with liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar while continuing to beat to medium peaks. Set the egg whites aside.
In another large bowl, combine the 4 egg yolks, oil, water, vanilla, and zest. Beat until well combined, then add gradually to the dry ingredients, beating while you pour it in. Add enough of the yolk mixture until the dry goods form a paste, then stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl, before continuing to add the remaining yolk mixture. Beat another 2 minutes on medium speed. Gently blend 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Fill each cupcake paper 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched. Let cool in the pans several minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool, or at least turn on their sides to let steam out from the bottoms. Cool before continuing.
To make the meringue buttercream, combine the egg whites and sugar in a clean bowl that can be used as the top of a double boiler. Stir until blended, then place the bowl over a saucepan of simmer water, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 140 degrees. I didn’t have a candy thermometer, so just kept an eye on the sugar and guessed. Transfer the bowl to your stand mixer or a hotplate on the counter and beat on high speed until the meringue is thick, glossy, and reaches the stiff peak stage.
Using a piping bag full of lemon curd with a large plain tip insert the tip into the center of the cupcake and squeeze gently until you can just see a bit of curd around the tip. Repeat, filling each cupcake. Top with meringue, also using the piping bag, or just using a spoon as desired. Toast lightly with a kitchen torch or under the broiler until golden brown to finish.
Boil the potatoes in a pot filled with salted water for 15 minutes, or until fork-tender. When done, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, cut each chicken breast into 6 pieces by cutting in half lengthwise, then into thirds the other way.
Heat an ovenproof saut̩ pan (or skillet Рthe difference is that a saut̩ pan has straight vertical sides so it holds more vs a skillet, which has slanted sides РI had to google it) over medium high heat and add the olive oil. Cook the chicken until it is lightly golden on all sides, 8-10 minutes.
Add the onion and smashed garlic to the chicken and cook several additional minutes until the onion starts to become translucent, then add the potatoes, tomatoes, olives, and parsley as well.
Transfer the pan to the middle rack of the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
Add the egg and beat together.
Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly mixed.
Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough (should’ve used my medium sized dough scoop, but did it with a spoon) and roll into balls. I got 30!
Arrange on the lined sheets, then gently press each dough ball to partially flatten.
Bake 6 minutes, rotate, and bake another 5-6 minutes, until just slightly golden at the base.
Cool 10 minutes on the pans, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredients:
Add the cabbage and water, adding by handfuls rather than all at once.
Increase heat to medium-high and cook 15-20 minutes, until cabbage is tender, then stir in the sugar and vinegar. Add salt, pepper, and butter, stir until the butter is melted and mixed in, then serve still hot. Simple!
Ingredients:
Put the egg yolk into a measuring cup then add enough milk to reach 1/3 cup. Drizzle the egg/milk into the flour mixture while stirring the mixture with a fork until the dough comes together into a ball.
Divide the dough into 2 even portions and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, stir together the apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then spread that mixture over the Cinnamon Toast Crunch and bottom layer of dough.
Sprinkle the toffee pieces over the apple mixture.
Roll out the remaining piece of dough large enough to cover, and place over the apple mixture. Beat the egg white and brush over the top crust.
Bake 45-50 minutes until golden brown.
When the slice is baked, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to make the glaze a drizzling consistency, then drizzle over the still-warm pastry.
Cool completely before slicing. Serve with some vanilla ice cream if you’ve got it!
Ingredients:
Cook 5-10 minutes until the vegetables start to soften, but don’t change color. (I found this took longer.) Add the potato and cook an additional 5 minutes, then stir in the corned beef.
Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock and raise the temp to bring to a boil. Reduce the heat back down and simmer until the carrots and potatoes are tender and most of the liquid is evaporated. (This also took a bit longer for me.)
Sprinkle with the parsley. Top with the other crust, and seal using some of the beaten egg. Crimp the edges, then brush the top with the remaining beaten egg.
Bake 30-35 minutes until golden, then cool 15-20 minutes before slicing. Super good!
Cook until the squash is tender, stirring frequently. Add the broth and simmer until the squash and onions are very tender.
Meanwhile, grate 1 cup of bread crumbs from the loaf. Cut the remaining bread into cubes and fry in butter or oil, in batches if needed.
Just before serving, press the soup through a colander to puree. (To modernize further/simplify, you can use an immersion blender to smooth out the vegetable chunks.) Stir in the bread crumbs to thicken.
Add some salt and cayenne, to taste. Serve with a few pieces of fried bread on top of each bowl.
Ingredients:
Add the sugar and beat again until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually beat into the butter mixture until just incorporated.
Drop by rounded tablespoons on the lined sheets – these cookies don’t grow during baking, so you can space them closer together than I did.
Bake 10-11 minutes, until juuuuust starting to brown on the bottom.
Cool on a wire rack, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Ingredients:
Stir in the eggs, pineapple, and juice, and continue to stir until the mixture thickens, which will take several minutes.
Add the butter to the thickened mixture and stir until melted in, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. The filling can be made a few days ahead and stored in the fridge.
To start the cake, first make sure there’s a rack on the center shelf of your oven, then start it preheating to 375 degrees. Grease an 18×13″ jelly roll pan, then line with parchment. I wasn’t sure if, later, the silpats I have that fit my pan would be too heavy and would crush the cake, so I did actually use parchment for this one.
Reduce the mixer speed to medium-high and drizzle in the cooled butter and the vanilla until just combined.
Reduce the speed further to low and add the flour all at once, beating just a few seconds until combined. Fold the mixture once or twice with a rubber spatula to ensure no unmixed spots remain at the bottom of the bowl, then gently turn the mixture out into the prepared pan.
Gently spread until it makes an even coat over the whole bottom – it may not feel like enough batter, but it’ll reach!
Bake 15 minutes, or until the top is just set but not yet browned, rotating halfway through.
Remove from the oven and sift/sprinkle a thin layer of powdered sugar over the surface of the cake. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. I have a plastic-y knife called a 
Allow to cool completely wrapped up with the towel, then gently unroll and remove the towel.
Starting from the end that had been the inside of the roll, fill with the pineapple filling, leaving some clear space at the other edges to allow for spreading.
Roll back up as you work, and once filled position the cake so that it’s seam-side down.
Spread the Cool Whip over the surface, and serve. This is another one that I finished, then in this case cut into thirds and froze 2/3, so it wouldn’t get gross soggy before I could eat the whole thing, and I didn’t notice any degradation of texture in the parts that were frozen and thawed. Handy!
sparecake 