Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I love meringue and convincing myself that as it’s virtually fat free, it’s a guilt free snack! I initially made these cupcakes free from refined sugar (using Billingtons Golden Caster sugar) and dairy free (by substituting the butter with Vitalite). These switches are of course optional but if your feeling treat-concious, they keep the refined sugar and dairy out, while keeping the delicious flavour intact.

You will need a 12 hole muffin tray lined with cases.

Ingredients

150g Caster Sugar
150g Butter (for dairy free use Vitalite)
3 Eggs
175g Self Raising Flour
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

For the Italian meringue topping

200g Caster Sugar
150ml Water
2 Egg Whites

To decorate

Edible confetti ours were from Candy Converters

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.

Beat in the eggs before adding the lemon zest and juice.

Stir in the flour until the batter is just combined. Mixing is my kids favourite part so although the baker in me wants to whip the bowl away as soon as the mixture is combined, the messy play advocate in me let’s them over mix the batter whilst simultaneously scoffing it.

Divide the batter between the cases in the muffin tray and bake for 12-15 minutes or until raised and golden.

Allow to cool completely before adding the meringue.

So Italian meringue sounds super complicated but it’s actually pretty simple. It’s more of a job for older kids as it involves alot of heat. I had mine playing washing up at the sink whilst I put this together.

In a saucepan over a medium heat, bring the sugar and water to a constant boil.

In the meantime whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.

Once the sugar mixture has been boiling for a least 1 minute, pour slowly into the egg whites whilst continuing to whisk at high speed.

Whisk the mixture until the meringue is lukewarm- by this time the heat of the sugar will have cooked the egg whites. So even though the meringue is soft it is not raw.

If you’re confident with a piping bag then pipe your merginue onto the cakes in a swirl. If not spoon the meringue onto the cakes and smooth with a flat knife.