Lemon meringue cupcakes

It is well known that lemon cream and meringue are a super successful combination. Patri, author of Sabores y Momentos , has thought of her to prepare some lemon curd and meringue cupcakes , and the result has been spectacular. Do not miss it!

Beginning the month of November, at home the oven is already turned on almost every day. During the week for more than daily dishes, but coming the weekend, we love to indulge ourselves! Cupcakes had their moment of glory years ago and even today they continue to be the sweet and sophisticated little morsel we see at any number of celebrations. But let's not think that at home we can't enjoy them on any Saturday!!

Now you will see what a delight I bring you to prepare them at home and leave you all with your mouth open! Some fluffy muffins will be our base , filled with a velvety lemon cream made with organic lemons and free-range eggs; and as a culmination a Swiss meringue with lemon zest and lightly toasted so that the bite is irresistible.

Who will resist them?

Nezumi ceramic plate from Tokyo Design Studio , Nezumi ceramic bowl from Tokyo Design Studio , Bérard flour spoon and KitchenAid Artisan food processor .

Ingredients

For the cake base:

• 200g of sugar
• 115g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 200g of flour
• 1 and ½ teaspoons yeast
• 1 tablespoon organic lemon zest
• 120ml semi-skimmed milk

For the lemon curd*:

• 75ml lemon juice (the equivalent of 2-3 lemons) from the garden
• 3 eggs
• 140g of sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 55g unsalted butter
• 3-4 sage leaves

For the meringue:

• 4 egg whites
• 200g of sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Elaboration:

1. Preheat the oven to 180º (160º if it is an oven with a fan). Prepare the special tray for cupcakes with the paper capsules.
2. In a bowl we sift the flour with the yeast and reserve.
3. With our KitchenAid and the shovel accessory, we beat the butter with the sugar until they are well integrated and the mixture blanches in color. We are adding the eggs one by one, beating well to leave them incorporated. Then we add half of the flour, and the lemon zest, we beat at medium speed and add the milk, we beat again and then we add the rest of the flour and we continue beating a couple of minutes at low speed until we have a mixture homogeneous.
4. With the help of an ice cream scoop (standard size) we will distribute the mixture in the capsules.
5. Bake for about 20-22 minutes depending on your oven.

Lemon Curd

1. Meanwhile, we prepare the lemon curd, or lemon cream. To do this, we begin by preparing the lemon juice with the lemons at room temperature to get a larger quantity (you can use a manual juicer or a press ).
2. In a saucepan we pour the juice and put over medium heat, add the eggs and sugar and beat with the manual rods . Add the sage leaves and gently stir constantly until our mixture begins to thicken (approximately 13-15 minutes) or reaches a temperature of 70º.
3. Once we have the desired texture (remember that when it cools it will thicken a bit more) remove from the heat and add the chopped butter and lemon zest . Stir well and move to the hermetic glass jar in which we are going to store it previously passed through the strainer to leave a cream with a fine and velvety texture. Let cool to fill the cupcakes with it.
4. Once we have them ready, we take them out of the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes and then remove them from the tray and put them on a wire rack until they cool down.

Mounting

1. Once the cupcakes are cold, we will go cutting with the help of a knife , a hole that reaches no more than half of the cake and we will fill with the lemon cream.

Pallarès carbon steel knife , Nezumi ceramic plate from Tokyo Design Studio and Luigi Bormioli hermetic glass jar .

Swiss meringue

1. Next we begin the elaboration of the Swiss meringue. Put the egg whites and sugar in a glass or aluminum bowl preferably and submerge it in a pot on the fire with a bottom of water that maintains a gentle boil (without it splashing into the whites).
2. With the manual rods we are beating gently and constantly until the whites reach a temperature of 65º for this we will use a kitchen thermometer , but if you do not have one, being careful not to burn yourself, take a pinch of mixture between your fingers and it will be Ready when smooth and you don't notice the grains of sugar.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and remove the glass bowl with the egg whites, then pour them into our KitchenAid bowl and with the rod accessory we begin to beat at medium speed for about 5-7 minutes or until we see that it is firm. Add the lemon zest and carefully put into a pastry bag with a rather large nozzle to make the top of our cupcakes .
4. We give the final touch with a kitchen torch, lightly toasting the surface of the meringue to give it the photo finish!!!

Nezumi ceramic plate from Tokyo Design Studio and Le Creuset nonstick muffin pan .