Feathers & Figs: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Over the past couple of months I have been in a bit of a funk. A cooking funk specifically.

Whilst I love food and cooking, recently I have been trying to watch my weight and tone up a bit which has caused my experimenting in the kitchen to dry up. Don't get me wrong, there are PLENTY of creative and delicious ways to cook healthy meals, but lately I just seemed to lack the energy or desire to do anything cooking related.

Was the cooking dream over?! Was this interest in cooking I had earlier considered an integral part of myself simply a fad I was to 'get over' and become one of those people content to live off Lean Cuisine?!

Apparently not.

The other day my Mum came to me and told me that she had been thinking about the future cake shop/ cafe we are going to co-own 'one day' (still haven't figured out the who, what, when and where of that plan yet!). Her latest exciting plan for the store - taking traditional desserts and transforming them into cupcakes.

Creme brulees, pies, tiramisu, black forest... the list she reeled off went on and I could tell she had been kept awake at night going over her favourite dishes in her head! Whilst the concept is not new (cupcakes have become the choice vessels for a great number of traditional dish reinventions!) I did think it would be fun to make my own attempt at these recreations in my own way.

And with that the flame of cupcake desire was once again ignited!

So, I present to you the first of what should hopefully be many cupcake reinventions - the Lemon Meringue Cupcake!

These cakes are the perfect mix of sweetness and that tarty ZING only lemon can provide, but more importantly they are also incredibly simple to make!

A couple of notes you may want to take on board when making these though:

1. The Cupcake Base

You can use another recipe for the cupcake batter if you have a 'special secret recipe' that you love or which was passed to you by a beloved elderly relative on their death bed. The one I use actually comes from the Planet Cake Cupcakes cookbook and is a little denser and has an almost 'shortbready' taste than most cupcakes. I love using this recipe and thought it was perfect for this cupcake since it more closely resembles the buttery tart shell of a traditional lemon meringue pie!

2. Putting A Hole in the Cupcake

An apple corer can be very useful for this...

3. Making the Lemon Curd

When making the curd be very sure that you don't stop whisking the eggs when adding the lemon mixture and don't add it to quickly or you will risk scrambling your eggs. A delicious twist with toast for breakfast perhaps, but NOT what you want here!

4. Blow torching the Cupcakes

Using a chef's blowtorch to finish the cupcakes just gives them that little bit of extra eye appeal as well as an extra (though very subtle) layer of flavour. HOWEVER, when making these I didn't anticipate that I would be torching them because I thought I was out of gas for my torch. Luckily for me I found an extra bottle tucked away in the back of my pantry. Unluckily for me I had already made the cupcakes is a high-backed paper case which catches fire extremely easily.

Lesson to self - unless you want bits of your paper casing to create a sprinkle of ash on your serving plate, DON'T USE THESE PAPER LINERS.