Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

 

What better way to finish off the perfect weekend than baking lemon meringue cupcakes with the housemates? And they are literally THE most incredible things ever. Which actually isn't that surprising really, because the recipe was from one of the Hummingbird Bakery recipes books, so obviously I would have expected nothing less. One of my housemates got 'Cake Days' for Christmas, which doubtless to say I am extremely jealous of (Mum, take note!) and perhaps our challenge will be to work our way through it by the end of the year. I don't know how they manage it, but the sponge is possibly the moistest I've ever tasted and it's not even difficult to make.

No words are needed to describe this book. 

However, perhaps the best part of making these cupcakes was that we got to use my other housemate's blowtorch...! Now that was exciting and it worked a treat!! And it's made them look so professional. I'm very impressed with it anyway. This is what I wished I'd had last year when I made the raspberry version of these. The blowtorch was far more effective than baking the meringues in the oven and gives them that golden finish that makes them look so attractive. 

Charlotte in action with her blowtorch!

And of course, the hidden lemon curd inside makes a delicious attempt at balancing out the sweetness of the meringue topping. Which is virtually impossible considering the amount of sugar that's in them - you could really only have one of these at once. Actually, that's a lie. I could definitely persuade myself to have another. And it wouldn't take much persuading! These will not be in our kitchen for much longer. So, basically, you must give these a go and treat yourself to a little sugary goodness to brighten up your day!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes (makes 12)

Ingredients:

80g Unsalted Butter

280g Caster Sugar

240g Plain Flour

1tbsp Baking Powder

1/4tsp Salt

1tsp Finely Grated Lemon Zest

2 Large Eggs

240ml Whole Milk

200g Caster Sugar

4 Egg Whites

70g Lemon Curd

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tin with muffin cases (or use silicone ones as I did).
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest until they are incorporated and resemble breadcrumbs. 
3. Break the eggs into a jug and whisk in the milk. 
4. Pour three quarters of the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and beat together (using an electric whisk if you have one).
5. Pour the remaining egg mixture in and beat again until combined and the batter is smooth.
6. Spoon the batter into the cases so they about two thirds full. 
7. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until they have risen and are springy to touch.
8. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. To make the frosting, put the sugar into a saucepan along with 150ml water and bring to the boil. 
10. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until just foamy.
11. Allow the sugar to boil for 5-10 minutes, until when a drop of the syrup is placed in cold water, it forms a small ball on the surface.
12. Pour the sugar syrup onto the egg whites and beat with an electric mixer on high until the meringue has quadrupled in size and is velvety smooth. 
13. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, hollow out the middle about 2cm deep and wide, using a knife.
14. Fill the hole about half full with lemon curd and then place the hollowed out sponge back in. 
15. Place about 1tbsp of meringue on the cupcakes, swirling it on.
16. Using a blowtorch, lightly brown the meringue so it is golden in colour.
17. Repeat with each cupcake and enjoy!

Meringue Rocky Roads.

 

Get ready for a chocolate overload if you're about to make these! But let's be honest, is there ever such a thing as too much chocolate? That question doesn't even deserve an answer. We all know that the presence of chocolate in our lives can only ever be a good thing. I even read an article recently that linked frequent chocolate consumption with weight loss. Now I am always very sceptical about studies of this sort, but for the purpose of this recipe (and because I hate to think how many calories are in each bite!), I am going to ignore all instinct and just go with it. So yes, eating one of these treats may just help you to lose weight*. 

Anyway, I digress. I came across a recipe for Le Gâteaux aux Petit Lu (what I like to call Meringue Rocky Roads) in April's issue of French Glamour and couldn't wait to give it a go. Basically, it looked just like Rocky Roads, except the marshmallows were replaced with meringues. Now, I can't really say I'm a massive fan of marshmallows, so this alteration suited me perfectly. When Abbey and I were together last weekend, we had a craving for chocolate and these chocolatey treats satisfied our need for something sweet. Of course, I didn't have my magazine with me, but I found this recipe on the Internet, which was virtually identical. They are soooo easy to make (and don't actually require any cooking!) and were the perfect addition to a night in watching Hairspray with a cuppa. 

We decided to be a little adventurous though and tried to make the meringues ourselves. Unfortunately, they didn't quite go as planned and it was another one of my mini kitchen disasters. After finding a meringue recipe, we realised that the quantities were too big, so we halved them. Except we used half the amount of egg whites and somehow got distracted and forgot to half the amount of sugar! When we were whisking the sugar in we thought something musn't have been right, because the mixture was just not getting stiff enough. Then it dawned on us that we hadn't changed the sugar quantity! Ooops. Thankfully, the meringues tasted fine and cooked all right in the oven...they were just exceptionally sweet and not quite the usual meringue-shape! We still used them in the Rocky Roads. I'll just know next time to be a bit more careful when altering a recipe. 

Meringues that don't really look like meringues!

Definitely give these a go if you're in need of a chocolatey boost. And a word of advice: they're best eaten as fresh as possible so the biscuits are still crunchy, not that I imagine this will be a problem of course...

*Just to set the record straight, I am sure this is defnitely not the case at all! I mean, it's just too good to be true. What it really means is eating a small amount of chocolate often is better than eating a lot all in one go.

Meringue Rocky Roads   makes about 10 slices, depending how big they are!

Ingredients:

40g Meringues

1/2 Packet Plain Biscuits (I used French Petits Beurres)

100g Dark Chocolate

50g Cocoa Powder

200g Butter

60g Sugar

2 Eggs

Method:

1. Break the meringues and biscuits into small pieces of about 1cm with the aid of a knife, but not so small they turn to powder.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter over a pan of boiling water and allow to cool.
3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs together.
4. Add the eggs, cocoa and sugar to the chocolate/butter mixture and mix well.
5. Add the biscuits and meringues and mix again.
6. Cover a cake tin with cling film and pour the mixture into it.
7. Cover with foil and place in the fridge overnight (we didn't because we couldn't wait, but it didn't matter!).
8. Remove from the fridge and cut into slices.
9. Enjoy! A cup of tea and Hairspray are not necessary but certainly recommended accompaniments!

Possibly The Best Iles Flottantes Ever.

On probably every French dessert menu you'll see, Iles Flottantes are bound to feature. And it's no wonder either, considering how good they are. You can even buy these little beauties in supermarchés they're so well-loved. "But what are they?" I hear you ask. Well basically, they're soft meringues floating on custard. I know what you're thinking: what a strange combination, but once you've tried them, you'll be embarrassed you ever had a negative word to say about them. Everyone likes meringues and everyone likes custard (you're not my friend if you don't), so everyone is guaranteed to like these. 'Floating islands' - what a lovely image. It sounds quite exotic doesn't it? But surprisingly they were very easy to make. The French recipe gave me a chance to brush up on my baking vocabulary too! Now custard has the tendency to not behave itself when you try and make it, but mine was quite a success and tasted just delicious. And the meringues. Wow. They were light and fluffy and well, just perfect actually. Please give these a go. They look so impressive, but really they're ridiculously easy...trust me. The only thing that would have finished them off nicely would have been a drizzle of caramel sauce. As I will definitely be making these again though, I'm not too distraught!

Iles Flottantes makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the crème anglaise (a.k.a. custard):

350ml Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essence

3 Egg Yolks

75g Sugar

For the meringues:

3 Egg Whites

1 Pinch Salt

40g Sugar

Method:

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat and add the vanilla essence. 
2. Once it has flavoured the milk remove from the heat.
3. In a bowl, mix the egg yolks together.
4. Add the sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
5. Gradually, add the milk to the egg mixture and mix well.
6. Transfer the mixture to a clean pan and leave it to simmer gently for 5 minutes, constantly stirring, until it starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Be careful not to let it boil, otherwise it will spearate.
7. For the meringues, whisk the egg whites with the salt until firm. 
8. Little at a time, add the sugar whilst constantly whisking. 
9. To cook, boil some water in a pan and put a tablespoon of the meringue into the simmering water for 30 seconds on each side. 
10. Repeat with all of the meringue mixture. 
11. Divide the crème anglaise between 4 small bowls and place the meringues on top.
12. Enjoy!

 

 

Raspberry Meringue Cupcakes!

The diiiivine patisserie

I just could not seem to stop baking this weekend! And this next recipe I must admit I am very proud of. It is based on possibly the best patisserie that I've had since I've been in France this year, from a Brioche Dorée in Montepellier a few weeks ago. Imagine a lemon meringue pie, swap the lemon for raspberry and shrink it...et voila, you have a tartelette aux framboises meringuée. It might even have overtaken the tarte aux fraises in the running for best French pastry. Its only downfall is that I've hardly seen it in any patisseries. But I am still on the look-out!

Anyway, I wanted to try and recreate this beautiful patisserie in cupcake form. And judging from people's reactions, I think it was a success! I made raspberry cupcakes, topped them with home-made raspberry curd and then a final layer of meringue. Of course, again, I'm going to mention my beloved oven and tell you that with a better oven (or better yet, a grill!) these cakes would end up even yummier, because the idea is that once the cupcakes are cooked they go back under the grill for 2-3 minutes to just cook the meringue. Having said that, they tasted pretty damn good. The cake part was quite tart, but the curd and the meringue were sweet enough to make you forget about that sourness in a second. They are quite fiddly to make, but believe me, it's worth it, because it will be hard to just eat one of these little packages of loveliness!

Raspberry Meringue Cupcakes makes 12

For the raspberry curd...
Ingredients:
50g Butter
1/2 cup Raspberries (if frozen, thawed)
2 Egg Yolks, lightly beaten
150g Sugar

Method:

1. Once raspberries are fully thawed, slightly mash with a fork and strain to separate the seeds to get the juice.
2. Beat together the butter and sugar in a saucepan.
3. Pour in the egg yolks and mix until combined.
4. And in the raspberry juice and mix together.
5. On a low heat, heat until the butter is melted.
6. Once the butter is melted turn up the heat to medium, while constantly stirring. 
7. Cook for 15 minutes.
8. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then cover with clingfilm right to the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. 
9. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours so it can finish setting.

For the raspberry cupcakes...
Ingredients:
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 cups Plain Flour
2 cups Raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line cake tin with cases or grease cupcake holders.
2. Melt butter over low heat. 
3. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar until combined. 
4. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, so it is lukewarm.
5. Whisk in the eggs.
6. Add the milk, vanilla and baking powder and whisk again to combine.
7. Whisk in the flour until just combined.
8. Fold in the raspberries.
9. Fill each cupcake holder with mixture and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool.
11. If using cupcake holders, remove from holders.

A lovely rasberry mess.

For the meringue...
Ingredients:
2 Egg Whites
100g Sugar

Method:

1. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed.
2. Gradually add the sugar and whisk continuously until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed and the mixture is thick and glossy.

The coveted 4€ whisk from Casino...literally made my life!

And look! I got to use my brand spanking new hand-held whisk that made me oh-so-happy when it was bought for me!! Here's it in action...and look at its brilliant results. It certainly works!

For the raspberry meringue cupcakes...
Method:

1. Spread a thin layer of the raspberry curd on the completely cooled cupcakes.
2. Place a dollop of meringue on top of the curd.
3. Ideally, place under the grill for 2-3 minutes until the top is lightly golden. If you don't have access to a grill, place in the oven at the highest temperature until lightly golden.
4. Enjoy these wonderful raspberry treats!

Again, unfortunately I don't think you can appreciate the loveliness of these cupcakes to the full extent from these photos and they certainly wouldn't win any awards for beauty. But hey, it's not about what you look like on the outside, what's more important is what you're like on the inside right? And that's sooooo true for these beauties. Please please please take my word for it and prepare to be amazed by these little raspberry explosions!!

WARNING! A sweet tooth is necessary to fully appreciate these little raspberry wonders.