Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
My favorite vanilla cupcakes turned into lemon cupcakes stuffed with fresh homemade lemon curd and frosted with marshmallow-y toasted vanilla meringue.
Don’t mind me, I’m just over here adding to my collection of lemon meringue desserts. Last year I made this family favorite lemon cupcake recipe but (if you ask me) there’s just something superior about fresh lemon curd and a toasted meringue instead of frosting lol.
Lemon meringue lovers, I think you’ll also appreciate my gorgeous creamy Lemon Meringue Cheesecake and these springy Lemon Meringue Baked Donuts.
How To Make Lemon Meringue Cupcakes, Step-by-Step Photos
Lemon Curd
- Combine the sugar, eggs, lemon juice & zest, butter and salt in a small nonstick or enameled (NOT metal) saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Whisk continuously until it thickens and reaches about 170F (77C), about 5 minutes. The curd should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- While it’s still hot, press the curd through a sieve into another bowl/jar, cover it and allow it to cool completely to room temperature. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
Lemon Cupcakes
- Zest the lemon on top of the sugar and use your fingers to rub them together well, until they’re well combined.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until they’re evenly distributed.
- Add the room temperature butter and the oil and use an electric mixer to beat them at medium, until they’re crumbly like a streusel.
- Add the egg and mix just until it’s well combined and the batter looks like paste.
- Add the sour cream and turn the mixer to low speed while streaming in the milk.
- Scrape the edge of the bowl and give it a good mix. Fill the cupcake liners about ⅔-¾ full. I recommend weighing them so each cupcake has 50-55 grams of batter.
- Bake for 20ish minutes, until the tallest part of the cupcake, in the center, springs back when you press on it. If you’re hesitant, give it another minute or so.
- Let the cupcakes rest for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove them from the pan.
Toasted Meringue
- Whisk sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites over a double boiler.
- Sugar has to be fully dissolved in the egg whites before whipping & reaches 170F (77C).
- Egg whites and sugar fully whipped into a fluffy meringue, about 10 minutes.
- Use meringue to frost the top of the cupcakes and toast them using a culinary torch.
Assemble
- Use a cupcake corer or a knife to cut a hole in the center of the cupcakes, remove a little chunk.
- Fill in the hole with the chilled lemon curd.
- Use a piping bag to frost the cupcakes with the meringue.
- Swirl some more lemon curd on top and then use a culinary torch to toast the meringue.
Expert tips on getting perfect cupcakes
There’s a few things you can do to make sure your cupcakes are perfect.
- Don’t reduce the sugar. I know a lot of people do that for some recipes but it alters the texture as well as the flavor.
- Weigh your ingredients with a digital scale
- Weigh the batter for each cupcake with a digital scale. I just place the cupcake pan on the scale with the liners and measure out 50 grams for each cupcake. You should have just enough for 12 cupcakes.
- Use an oven thermometer to make sure the oven is heating accurately.
- Use a light colored stainless steel muffin tin for even baking.
- Read my post on lemon curd if you’re new to that.
- Read my post on a stable Swiss Meringue if you’re new to meringues!
How To Store Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
These definitely need to be refrigerated because of the meringue and the lemon curd so I recommend placing them in an airtight container and refrigerating them for up to a week. Freeze if it’s any longer than that.
To freeze the cupcakes, place them in an airtight container and then place the container in a freezer bag, squeezing out all the excess air. Bring them back to room temperature by thawing at room temperature for a few hours before serving.
I really do love a good lemon curd and meringue combo so I hope you love these cupcakes too!
If you have any questions, please comment down below – those will get answered much quicker than email or through social media.
If you’ve tried this, I would very much appreciate a star rating or review as well.
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
Light & Fluffy Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
My favorite vanilla cupcakes turned into lemon cupcakes stuffed with fresh homemade lemon curd and frosted with marshmallow-y toasted vanilla meringue.
Equipment
- 1 cupcake pan
- 1 zester
- 1 small pot
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 large lemon, zested or 2 small
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 60 mL (1/4 cup/2oz) lemon juice 1 large or 2 small lemons
- 42 grams (3 Tbsp) salted butter room temperature
Lemon Cupcakes
- 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 large lemon (or 3 small), zested
- 210 grams (1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 56 grams (1/4 cup/4 Tbsp) unsalted butter room temperature
- 60 mL (1/4 cup) canola oil
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 113 grams (1/2 cup) sour cream
- 80 mL (1/3 cup) whole milk room temperature
Toasted Meringue
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 3 large egg whites (90-100 grams)
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- tiny pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
Lemon Curd
- Combine the sugar, eggs, lemon juice & zest, butter and salt in a small nonstick or enameled (NOT metal) saucepan over medium-low heat.*50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar, 1 large lemon, zested, 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 60 mL (1/4 cup/2oz) lemon juice, 42 grams (3 Tbsp) salted butter
- Whisk continuously until it thickens, about 5 minutes and reaches about 170F (77C). The curd should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- While it’s still hot, press the curd through a sieve into another bowl/jar, cover it and allow it to cool completely to room temperature. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
Lemon Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F/177C convection and line 13 cupcake tins (if you only have 1 pan, do the first 12 first).
- Place the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl) and zest the lemon on top. Use your fingers to rub the sugar with the lemon zest to release the oils.200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar, 2 large lemon (or 3 small), zested
- Add the cake flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until they're evenly distributed.210 grams (1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- Add the oil and butter to the dry ingredients and beat together until they're combined.60 mL (1/4 cup) canola oil, 56 grams (1/4 cup/4 Tbsp) unsalted butter
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until they're fully combined.1 large egg, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Add the sour cream and turn the mixer to low speed, while streaming the milk in. Scrape the edge of the bowl and mix just until the batter is smooth.113 grams (1/2 cup) sour cream, 80 mL (1/3 cup) whole milk
- Fill each cupcake tin about 2/3-3/4 full, about 50 grams and bake for about 18 minutes. They are done when you press on the center and it springs back and the edges start to get golden.
- Remove them from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
- Once they've cooled, use a cupcake corer or a knife to make a hole in the center. Fill the hole in with the cooled lemon curd.
Toasted Meringue
- Bring a small pot with a little water to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer (keep it on very low heat).
- Wipe down your equipment with a tiny bit of vinegar or lemon juice (any edible acid) and then place the sugar and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisking them together.150 grams (3/4 cup) granulated sugar, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- Add the egg whites to the bowl and whisk the egg whites into the sugar. Place the bowl of egg whites and sugar on top of the simmering water (making sure it doesn’t submerge into the water) – you want the steam to heat the egg whites.3 large egg whites (90-100 grams)
- Whisk the egg whites frequently so they don’t coagulate around the edge of the bowl. Generally around 5 minutes, the sugar will feel like it’s dissolved in the egg whites but you want to take the egg whites to 175F (80C) in order to get that stable, marshmallowy texture, which is normally around 10 minutes for me. So make sure to check the temperature with a thermometer between the 5-10 minutes (it may take up to 15 minutes).
- Once it’s at 175F (80C), turn the stove off, remove the bowl from the simmering pot and place it on the stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium speed for a minute and then increase to medium-high for about 10 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla extract and salt and mix, that just until it’s combined, making sure to scrape the edge of the bowl as well. The texture should be thick and marshmallow – not dry or foamy.2 tsp vanilla bean paste, tiny pinch fine sea salt
- Use a piping bag fit with a round tip to pipe the meringue onto the cupcakes. Use a culinary torch to toast the top of the meringue. Feel free to top it with a little more lemon curd if you want.
Notes
- Store bought lemon curd will work as well but I don’t particularly love any of them to recommend.
- I recommend a light colored metal cupcake pan if you want them more uniform in color.
- I get 13 cupcakes and there’s a tiny bit of batter left over (for like half a cupcake) but if you add that to the cupcakes, they’re overfill and shrivel back up.
- Store in an airtight container, refrigerated for 4-5 days or frozen for a few weeks.
- If you need the meringue to be SUPER stable you can add gelatin to it.
- I just dissolve a ¼ tsp of gelatin in 1 tsp of cold water. Let it set for a few minutes and then microwave it for 5 seconds. Add it in with the vanilla and salt, mixing just until it’s well combined. It’ll set once it’s refrigerated.
- I just dissolve a ¼ tsp of gelatin in 1 tsp of cold water. Let it set for a few minutes and then microwave it for 5 seconds. Add it in with the vanilla and salt, mixing just until it’s well combined. It’ll set once it’s refrigerated.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 284kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 4gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 142mgPotassium: 77mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 310IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 55mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!