Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes

For my birthday, I wanted to bake cupcakes (I know it's weird, but that's how I wanted to spend my afternoon!) so I attempted to make some like Mini's Lemon Pie Cupcakes (see next post). I'm not thrilled with how the cake part turned out...they were a little too dry. I just looked in America's Test Kitchen's cookbook and the first thing it says is, "Be careful not to overmix the batter or the cupcakes will be tough and rubbery." It must have been because I finished mixing the batter and then realized I still needed to add lemon rind and lemon juice. I'll write the recipe so you don't have the same problem!

Here's a math problem for the doughdoughs out there...
These recipes call for 6 egg yolks and 4 egg whites. 6 + 4= 10 eggs, right?
Wrong. As I discovered while baking. I only had 4 eggs, so I called my neighbor and asked her to bring over 6 eggs. Then I realized that eggs have a yolk and an egg white. (I know you are thinking, DUH!!) So...the problem is really 6-4=2 eggs! I had to call her back, plead guilty for being a doughdough, and tell her to only bring 2 eggs.


Lemon cupcakes - adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Easy Yellow Cupcakes

3 cups cake flour (you can make it yourself, but I bought Pillsbury's Softasilk Cake Flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sugar
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I used Saco dried buttermilk-you just mix it with water and there is no expiration date if you put it in your fridge)
Rind from 2 lemons
Juice from 1 lemon (Remember, just like the eggs, you can get the rind and juice from the same lemon! haha.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 muffin pans with nut cups.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the sugar until combined. Whisk in the melted butter a little bit at a time. Whisk in the buttermilk. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the batter. Whisk it in until a few flour streaks remain. Repeat with the next third of the flour mixture. Add the lemon rind and juice, and the last third of the flour mixture. Whisk the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone, but don't overmix! Fill your nut cups about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick comes out with 1-2 crumbs attached. It took mine about 22 minutes to finish baking. I actually used regular cupcake liners for one of my pans and they finished about 4 minutes sooner.

Lemon Pie Filling - Made exactly from America's Test Kitchen's Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe
I'm not sure if I can post it since I didn't adapt it at all...anyone know if that's okay? I can't find a link to it online.

Cut out the middle of the cupcake, leaving cake on the very bottom. Spoon the filling into the hole.

Meringue - made exactly from America's Test Kitchen's Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

After the cupcakes are filled, add the meringue to the top with a spoon. Use the back of the spoon to make peaks. Preheat the oven to 325. Put the cupcakes on a baking sheet near the top of the oven until the top of the meringue turns brown.

The final product! They turned out so cute! And delicious! I now prefer my lemon meringue pie in a cupcake!

Note to self: You do not need eggs for egg yolks, and more eggs for egg whites...one egg contains both parts!