Isabella: The cupcakes are my winning ‘Mystery Box’ dessert from Junior MasterChef. They do look impressive! And the lemon curd perfectly balances the sweet meringue on the top.
Cupcakes were one of the first sweets Isabella and I baked. The use of cream rather than butter makes them extremely quick and easy, leaving you time to enjoy decorating them!
Isabella’s lemon meringue cupcakes
Ingredients
- 310ml cream
- 200g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- dash of vanilla extract
- 320g self-raising flour, sifted
- Simple icing
- 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
- few drops vanilla extract or essence of your choice
- 160g icing sugar
- warm water, as required
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Place the cream and sugar in a large bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon or beaters. Add the eggs and vanilla, and continue to mix, then gradually add the self-raising flour and stir until well combined.
Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases and fill each one with about 2 tablespoons of the mixture. (Next time you make the recipe, experiment with more or less mixture. Make huge cupcakes or smaller ones – have fun with them!)
Cook for approximately 15 – 20 minutes or until the cakes bounce back when pressed in the centre. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
While the cupcakes are cooking, make the icing. Place the butter, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl, and add small amounts of water as you mix, until the icing is a spreadable consistency. Spread the icing on the cool cupcakes with a knife or make a firmer icing and pipe it onto the cupcakes using a piping bag with a 1cm nozzle. Decorate with your favourite toppings or lollies, or simply sprinkle icing sugar on top of the cakes and enjoy!
