Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Per your requests, I'll be posting some of the cupcake recipes from Dessert Club. These Lemon Meringue Cupcakes were spectacular in both taste and presentation.

D.C. member C.C. says: "This recipes calls for caster sugar, which I just put regular white granulated sugar into a coffee grinder to make it finer. Also for the meringue, it whips up faster if the egg whites are brought up to room temperature. I also made a double batch of the lemon curd and was pretty generous in piping it into the cupcakes."Lemon Meringue Cupcakes (print recipe)
Cupcakes:
1 cup pure cream
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Lemon curd:

1/2 cup lemon juice
100g butter (about 7 T)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
3 egg yolks

Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180′C. Place 12 patty cake liners in a 12 hole 1/2-cup capacity muffin pan.

2. Place cream, sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Gradually add flour and zest and continue whisking until mixture is thick and smooth.

3. Divide mixture between prepared liners and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cakes spring back to touch. Cool in muffin pan.

4. For lemon curd, heat lemon juice and butter in a small saucepan and simmer until butter has melted. Add sugar, egg and yolks and cook, whisking continuously until mixture becomes thick and glossy. Pour into a shallow oven tray to cool.

5. For meringue, beat egg whites in an electric mixer until firm peaks form, gradually add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar has dissolved between each addition. Spoon meringue mixture into a piping bag.

6. To serve, preheat grill to medium-high. Cut a small hole in the top of each cupcake and fill with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon curd. Pipe a swirl of meringue mixture on the top of each cupcake and place under heated grill for 60-90 seconds or until golden. Arrange on a serving plate with spoonfuls of lemon curd if desired.

Recipe from Masterchef via Dessert Club Member C.C.