Lemon Meringue Cupcakes Recipe
These lemon meringue cupcakes have sweet-tangy lemon cupcakes filled with lemon mousse and topped with toasted meringue frosting. They make the perfect treat for Spring and Summer!
Servings 18 cupcakes
Calories158.8 kcal
Cost $ 0.75 per cupcake
Equipment
- 1 standard-size muffin tin
- 1 oven
- 1 mixer
- 1 Ice cream scoop
Ingredients
For the Lemon Cupcake Batter:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (Meyer lemon, regular lemon, or lime)
- 3 Tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (Meyer lemon, regular lemon, or lime)
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
For the Lemon Mousse:
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (Meyer lemon regular lemon, or lime)
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
For the Toasted Meringue Frosting:
- 8 large egg whites
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- A few drops of fresh lemon juice (Meyer lemon, regular lemon, or lime)
- Lemon zest (Meyer lemon, regular lemon, or lime)
Instructions
- To make the lemon cupcake batter, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (178 degrees C). Line a cupcake tin and reserve.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir in together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine whole milk and both lemon juice and zest. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with paddle attachment, beat softened butter for about 1 minute at medium speed. Then add the sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
- Add eggs, one at a time, to the sugar mixture, beating well on low speed after each addition. Alternately, add the dry ingredients or flour mixture and also the reserved mixture of milk and lemon juice and zest to the egg mixture, beating well after each addition.
- Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners ¾ full with the batter. Bake for 15 minutes or until cupcakes are puffy and bounce back when lightly touched. Let cool completely on a rack before filling with lemon mousse and meringue frosting.
- To make the lemon mousse, whisk all the 3 ingredients together until obtaining a homogeneous mixture. Fill cupcakes with lemon mousse by first cutting out a small hole in the center of each cupcake using a paring knife. The hole should be to about one-half of the vertical depth of the cupcake. Reserve the cupcake removed piece of the cupcake.
- Pipe lemon mousse into each hole. Close the hole with the reserved piece of cake -- this will require trimming off most of the bottom part of the plug so that when replaced in the hole the plug will be level with the rest of the top of the cupcake, and will not squeeze out the mousse. Place filled cupcakes in the refrigerator.
- To prepare the toasted meringue frosting, place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Then, set the bowl over a saucepan containing simmering water. Whisk constantly for about 3-4 minutes or until sugar has dissolved and whites are warm to the touch.
- Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat mixture on low speed and then gradually increase to high until obtaining stiff, glossy peaks (about 5 minutes). Add a few drops of fresh lemon juice, mixing until combined.
- Using a large star tip or other tip of your preference, pipe meringue onto the cupcakes. Toast meringue with a blow torch and sprinkle lemon zest on top of the toasted meringue. Decorate as desired, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Storage
- Store lemon cupcakes filled with lemon mousse (without the meringue frosting) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Top them with the meringue frosting before serving them!
- You may freeze the cupcakes without the lemon mousse filling or meringue frosting for up to 2 months. Thaw them at room temperature, then fill them with the lemon mousse, and top them with the meringue.
Nutrition
Calories: 158.8kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.4g | Protein: 5.3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4.7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2.1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 56.3mg | Sodium: 186.5mg | Potassium: 133.5mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 5.6g | Vitamin A: 279.7IU | Vitamin C: 1.5mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 0.9mg
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