Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

If there was a perfect combination of lemon and more lemon than these cupcakes would be it. As a proclaimed citrus and especially lemon and lime fanatic, these little clouds of heaven were a dream come true for me. I loved everything about these little cakes and would not change a thing. Modeled after traditional Lemon Meringue Pie it has everything and more packaged in a compact size.

The cake part was light and fluffy with the faint scent and taste of lemons. The lemon curd on top is the little component that will smack you with intense lemon flavor through and through. It is smooth, creamy and oh so lemony. And to top it all off, you have "marshmallow fluff" in the form of a 7-Minute frosting which represents the meringue of a regular pie.

I started the process by making the lemon curd which needs to chill for a while in the fridge. I was hesitant as I had read a few reviews for this particular recipe and people had problems getting the curd to get thick. This was not the case here. I just kept stirring the lemon, sugar and egg mixture over a double boiler until it got thick enough to coat the back of a spoon which took almost 20 minutes.

The cake is just a plain vanilla batter with the addition of lemon zest, lemon juice, and buttermilk. This  transformed it into a light cake with the subtle taste of lemon.
The frosting of this cupcake is a 7-Minute frosting which I have used on my Coconut Cupcakes, S'mores Cupcakes, and Snickerdoodle Cupcakes before. The only difference was that I got to use my kitchen blow torch to lightly toast the meringue.

This cupcake will be made for many more occasions to come. In fact I will be trying out different combinations, as you can make any kind of citrus curd along with adding the zest and juice from different fruits to the batter to change things up. I'm looking forward to trying this with limes, grapefruits and even oranges.

Martha Stewart and her fabulous cookbook Martha Stewart's cupcakes has not had one disappointing recipe so far.  Her instructions are precise and easy to follow. Yes, many of her cupcakes are more time consuming than opening a boxed mix, but if you are willing to invest just a little bit more, you will get results that blow you and everyone else lucky enough to try the goodies, away.

So if lemon meringue pie, cupcakes, or anything else lemon makes you as happy as me, then go ahead and buy her book or check out the recipe on her website.