Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For the Lemon Curd
8 large egg yolks
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

For the Seven Minute Frosting
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons light maple flavoured syrup or honey
6 large egg whites, room temperature


Method:
For the Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Stir together buttermilk and lemon juice. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes. Let cool for about 3-5 minutes in the pan and then move the cupcakes to wire racks to cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

For the Lemon Curd:
Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes (mine ended up taking about 12 minutes), or until it registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
Remove saucepan from heat. Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

For the Seven Minute Frosting:
Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and syrup or honey in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230 degrees.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.
As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230 degrees, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.

Filling the cupcakes.

To Prepare the Cupcakes:

To finish, make a hole in the centre of the cupcake with either a cupcake corer or a knife (here is a tutorial). Spoon lemon curd into the centre of each cupcake. Either fill a piping bag with frosting and pipe frosting onto each cupcake, swirling tip slightly and releasing as you pull up to form a peak, or just spoon some frosting onto the top of each cupcake, using a spoon to create peaks all over the cupcake (I did the latter). Using a small kitchen torch, hold the torch 3 to 4 inches from surface of frosting, and wave it back and forth until frosting is lightly browned all over. Serve immediately.


Yield: 24 cupcakes

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

For the Crust:
24-25 Ginger biscuits
65ml sugar
80ml melted butter

For the Lemon Curd Filling:
3 egg yolks
1 tin Sweetened Condensed Milk
125ml lemon juice

For the Meringue:
3 egg whites
1.25ml cream of tartar
200ml white sugar

Method:

Place ginger biscuits in food processor and blend to crumbs. Empty crumbs into bowl, add melted butter and sugar. Mix until crumbs are moistened. Press into bottom of a 9″ pie plate. Bake shell in 180˚C oven for 8 minutes. Cool.

Preheat oven to170˚C. In bowl, beat egg yolks. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. Whisk ingredients well.

Pour into prepared crust, and bake for 30 minutes. Cool.
In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture forms stiff peaks. Cover prepared lemon pie with meringue and bake at 180˚C for 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

Angels and Demons Strawberry Love Pie

This is a recipe that came to me through my mother-in-law. The angels refer to the meringue with its crisp crust and gooey centre; the demons are represented by the wickedly alcoholic chocolate sauce laced through it. It's a wonderful representation of human nature; we all wish to be good like angels, but even angels can fall. There is a little wickedness in all of us, no matter how good we think we are, but love is what matters; represented by the strawberry, love conquers all.

Ingredients:
For the Meringue:
6 egg whites
a pinch of salt
500ml caster sugar
10ml vanilla extract
10ml lemon juice

For the strawberry filling:
150g strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
30ml caster sugar
a pinch of salt

For the Cream Filling:
250ml double cream
2ml vanilla extract
15ml caster sugar

For the Chocolate Sauce:
300g dark chocolate, at least 70-75% cocoa solids, broken into small pieces
150ml double cream
30ml Bramley and Gage Strawberry Liqueur or other strawberry liqueur you may have available

Method:
Preheat the oven to 120C. Grease a 10 inch pie plate.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, but not dry. Very gradually add 250ml of sugar, beating well after each addition. Now add the vanilla and lemon juice and finish beating in the rest of the sugar until all the sugar is dissolved and the meringue is very stiff.
Place the meringue in the pie plate, making it higher in the middle in a dome shape. Bake for 90 minutes in the prepared slow oven, then increase the oven heat to 150C for 30 minutes. The meringue will puff up, then when taken out of the oven it will crack as it cools and the centre will sink. Cool thoroughly.

Meanwhile macerate the strawberries in the sugar and a pinch of salt until required.

When the meringue is completely cooled, whip the cream with vanilla and sugar until the stiff peak stage.

To make the chocolate sauce, place the chocolate, cream and liqueur in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the bowl is not in contact with the water. Stir continuously until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy.

To assemble the pie, put a layer of a third of the cream into the meringue shell, then a layer of half the strawberries, drizzle over the chocolate sauce, then repeat the layer - cream, strawberries, chocolate sauce - and finish with the remaining cream.

Serve the pie with any remaining chocolate sauce - over each serving dribble it, pour it, drench it, depending on how wicked you like it!