Dulcet Devotion

If life has handed you lemons, can I suggest you make lemon meringue mini cupcakes?

Believe me, it’s easier than you may think.

I can’t take all the credit for this. I stumbled upon Matt’s blog, Matt Bites and found this ode to citrus. When I saw the mini cupcakes, I nearly lost my mind.

As I believe there are no coincidences in life, it made perfect sense that just the week before, I had pulled out this recipe from David Lebovitz for Improved Lemon Curd that I was determined to make with the Meyer lemons I had found at the store.

So, I made the lemon curd (easy peasy but it took longer than I thought it would, constantly stirring, in fear of cooking it to death), and had it setting nicely in the fridge.  As Matt suggested, I made vanilla cupcakes (from a mix, no shame, these things are GOOD) and used the point of my carrot peeler to scoop out the tops. Oops, better eat that leftover cake!

Next, I piped the curd into the open tops of the cupcakes and iced them with Italian meringue.  Italian meringue is made with either a hot sugar syrup added to the egg whites or by heating up the egg whites and sugar over a water bath while whipping into stiff peaks. I used this recipe here.

Once frosted, I put the cakes under the broiler of my oven. I would’ve liked to use a blow torch, but alas, I still don’t have one. I was worried about using the oven but the results were quite good. The best part was that the meringue didn’t slide off the top of the cupcakes like it sometimes can with a lemon meringue pie. A two bite treat of creamy, tart and sweet all wrapped up in one. These are a must try. You’ve been warned.

Lemon Curd
by David Lebovitz

Makes 1 cup (240 g)

Here, I use a slightly dare-devil method for making curd by heating everything together over direct heat. If you’re feeling unsure, instead of increasing the heat in step #4, keep the heat very low, or cook the curd in a double-boiler; a bowl nested over a saucepan of simmering water.

1/2 cup (125 ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup (65 g) sugar (or 1/2 cup, 100 g, if using regular lemons)
2 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, cubed

1. Place a mesh strainer over a bowl, and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, eggs, and salt.

3. Add the butter cubes and set the pan over low heat, whisking constantly until the butter is melted.

4. Increase the heat and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and just begins to become jelly-like. It’s done when you lift the whisk and the mixture holds its shape when it falls back into the saucepan from the whisk.

5. Immediately press the curd through the strainer. Once strained, store the lemon curd in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to one week.

One-Step Italian Meringue
From Brilliant Food Tips & Cooking Tricks, by David Joachim

Also known as boiled icing, this type of meringue is traditionally made by beating hot sugar syrup into beaten egg whites. This version combines all of the ingredients in one bowl to save time. It should be made over a saucepan of simmering water so that the egg whites reach a temperature of at least 160°F (70°C) to kill any harmful bacteria.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup, plus 2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp cold water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Instructions:

Combine the ingredients in a metal bowl. Place over a saucepan of gently simmering water and beat with an electric mixeron low speed, 4 to 5 minutes. Increase speed to high and beat until very thick, about 4 minutes more. Remove bowl from saucepan and beat off the heat until light and fluffy, another 4 minutes.

Yield: Makes about 4 cups