These cupcakes made me very very happy! They look and taste great too.
A simple sponge mixture was made by throwing everything in a bowl, then a dollop of cake mix was put into muffin cases and cooked for 20 minutes. The filling was a take on key lime pie but was made up from lime juice and condensed milk.
A good quality lemon curd could be used for the filling which would obviously then transform them into lemon meringue cupcakes.
The meringue was piped onto the cooled cupcakes and my husband was given the responsibility of using the blowtorch to brown the meringue. He doesn't trust me! If you use this method of browning the meringue don't be too enthusiastic otherwise they will brown too much.
Makes: 18 cupcakes
You will need:
225g unsalted butter softened, 225g caster sugar, 225 self-raising flour, 4 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla essence.
1. Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F/Gas 4. Place 18 paper muffin cases into muffin tins.
2. Place all the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth and pale, about 2 or 3 minutes. Spoon the batter into the cases. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. Remove tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.
For the filling:
75ml lime juice (or to taste), 400g tin condensed milk
1. Combine the lime juice and condensed milk in a small bowl.
2. Remove the top from each cupcake and hollow out a small hole. Spoon the filling into the hole and replace the top.
For the meringue:
3 egg whites, ¼ tsp cream of tartar, 75g granulated sugar (I used caster sugar).
1.Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add one-third of the sugar and beat for 1 minutes. Repeat until all the sugar has been added.
2. Increase the oven temperature to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8.
3. Spoon or pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes. Bake for 5 minutes until golden. Or use a blowtorch to brown the meringue.
