Lemon Meringue Cupcakes are a bite-sized version of the classic lemon meringue pie dessert made with fluffy buttermilk-lemon cupcakes filled with a sweet, tart lemon curd filling and topped with a fluffy meringue. Lemon lovers will swoon after one bite of these tasty lemon meringue cupcakes.
*This is an update from my original post, which I published in 2019.*
What Are Lemon Meringue Cupcakes?
Lemon meringue cupcakes have three components: lemony cupcakes, a homemade lemon curd recipe, and meringue frosting torched until golden. All combined, these components build one of the tastiest desserts packed with tons of lemon flavor.
The first dessert I ever baked was a lemon meringue pie. At 9 years old, I didn’t think recipes were hard and fast rules, so I often improvised. As a result, my final pie was a runny, eggy mess with white goo that shames me even to think about it now.
These cupcakes are my redemption.
What Are the Ingredients In Lemon Meringue Cupcakes?
The ingredients in lemon meringue cupcakes are cake flour, baking powder, ground ginger, fresh lemon zest (the juice of the same lemon is also used), butter, granulated sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.
I fill the lemon meringue cupcakes with this Meyer lemon curd recipe, which I recommend making a day ahead to give it time to firm up.
The topping is a simple Swiss Meringue made from egg whites, sugar, and a pinch of cream of tartar.
Can I Use Store-bought Lemon Curd For These Cupcakes?
You can replace the homemade lemon curd in this recipe with a jar of lemon curd or 1 box of lemon pudding (prepared and chilled). Choose a lemon curd or pudding that is flavorful and tart. Stonewall Kitchens lemon curd is a brand of lemon curd that I recommend.
Make the homemade lemon curd a day before baking the cupcakes, so you don’t end up with a warm, runny filling.
What If I Don’t Have Cake Flour or Buttermilk?
You can make cake flour at home if you don’t keep it on hand:
- Measure out 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour.
- Remove 3 tablespoons of the flour from the bowl.
- Replace those 3 tablespoons with the same amount of cornstarch.
- Sift as instructed below.
To make homemade buttermilk:
- Add 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk.
- Stir together to combine, then allow this mixture to sit for 15 minutes before using as instructed.
- Combine the buttermilk with the vanilla extract after it’s curdled.
You can replace the buttermilk with the same amount of room-temperature sour cream.
How Do I Achieve Fluffy Cupcakes?
To make the fluffiest lemon cupcakes, incorporate as much air into the cream and sugar as possible and aerate the flour. Aerating the flour is as simple as sifting the flour, ground ginger, and baking powder together at least 3 times. Sifting aerates the flour and breaks apart clumps. The consistency of cake flour is inherently clumpy, so this is essential. Sifting the dry ingredients also blends them together.
Begin with sifting them twice and sift them again as you add them to the rest of the batter.
Set the bowl containing the dry ingredients aside once you’ve sifted them together.
How Do I Complete the Lemon Cupcakes?
Beating room-temperature butter and sugar together long enough and at a high enough speed to incorporate air ensures you end up with the fluffiest cupcakes. Room-temperature ingredients blend evenly, whereas cold ingredients leave you with lumps and an imbalanced mixture.
Use an electric mixer at low speed to blend the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and salt together in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Alternatively, you can complete this creaming step in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters once the mixture is smooth.
With the mixer on medium-high speed (speed 4 on a KitchenAid), beat the butter and sugar together for 3 minutes or until light, fluffy, and lemony-yellow in color. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters once during this process. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the eggs, one at a time, to the bowl. After incorporating the first egg into the batter, stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters before adding the next egg.
Once the eggs are in, increase the mixing speed to medium-high and beat for 4 minutes. Stop and scrape the bowl and beaters twice during this stage.
The butter mixture should be nearly white in color and fluffy at this point.
How Do I Avoid Tough Cupcakes?
The biggest cause of tough cupcakes is over-mixing. Add the flour and milk in stages to minimize the risk of over-mixing and creating tough cupcakes.
Sift 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the bowl with the butter mixture. Blend in the dry ingredients with the mixer on low until the flour is no longer visible. Add half of the buttermilk mixture to the bowl, blending it at low speed.
Once the milk is almost incorporated, stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters.
Mix in 1/3 of the dry mixture at low speed, followed by the remaining milk mixture. Stop again and scrape down the bowl and beaters, then add the last of the flour.
Finish mixing the batter by hand using a large rubber spatula to gently fold in the last of the flour mixture until it is incorporated.
The butter in this recipe and the fact that the cupcakes have to be refrigerated means that the cupcakes will be firmer than cupcakes kept at room temperature. It’s the lesser of two evils considering the alternative, which is food poisoning. These mixing steps will keep the firmness at a bare minimum.
How Long Do I Bake the Cupcakes?
Use a #16 portion scoop to scoop the batter into a paper-lined muffin tin. This recipe makes exactly 1 dozen cupcakes using a 2-ounce portion scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup.
Gently tap the cupcake pan onto the countertop to remove air bubbles from the batter. Bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes in a preheated oven set to 350°F (177°C). Avoid over-baking the cupcakes, as that causes them to dry out. The tops of the cupcakes should spring back quickly when you press them.
How do I make the Lemon Meringue Cupcakes moist?
Brushing a lemon simple syrup on the warm cupcakes keeps cupcakes moist and adds another element of lemon flavor.
Prepare the lemon simple syrup while the cupcakes are baking:
- In a small, heatproof bowl, stir the reserved lemon juice (from the lemon you zested) and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Microwave the mixture on high for 15-20 seconds. Keep an eye on it because it’ll start to bubble up!
- Carefully remove the bowl from the microwave once it boils, and stir the simple syrup until the sugar dissolves.
After you remove the cupcakes from the oven, use a pastry brush to quickly brush an even layer of the hot syrup over each one.
You can get two layers of simple syrup from this one bowl. You can also skip the lemon simple syrup.
When the cupcakes are brushed with the hot sugar syrup, allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes to allow their structure a chance to set up. Transfer the cool cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
What’s the Easiest Way To Fill Lemon Meringue Cupcakes?
The easiest way to create a hole in your cupcakes to fill them is to use an apple corer since it extracts the circle when you pull it up. Use your finger to press down any remaining cake in the cupcake’s center after removing the apple corer. This helps form a barrier between the paper liner and the lemon curd.
You can use a round piping tip or cookie cutter if you don’t have an apple corer.
Spoon or pipe a tablespoon of the Meyer lemon curd into the hole you made in the cupcake. Gently tap the cupcake against the countertop to settle the curd inside the cupcake. If there’s a divot, add a little more curd. It’s okay if the curd overflows slightly, but remember that the meringue needs something dry to stick to, so don’t get crazy.
Continue poking holes and filling them. Or you can poke all the holes and then fill them. Set the tray of cupcakes aside while you make your Swiss meringue topping.
What is Swiss Meringue?
Swiss meringue is a mixture of warm egg whites whipped with sugar until they hold a stiff peak. The meringue is most often the base for buttercreams, but you can bake it to make candies or use it as a frosting.
The process of heating the egg whites and sugar together ensures that the sugar is completely dissolved and the egg whites are safe to consume. Heat the egg whites and sugar in a double boiler (place the bowl with the whites over a small saucepan filled with a cup of water), constantly stirring, over medium heat until the whites reach 160°F (71°C).
Ensure you use a very clean glass or metal mixing bowl before heating your egg whites. Fat inhibits egg whites from developing volume and whipping to a stiff peak.
Add the cream of tartar to the warm egg whites and begin whipping the mixture with the whisk attachment of your electric mixer at medium speed.
Once the eggs look foamy, increase the speed to high. Whip the egg whites for another 7-8 minutes until they stand out in stiff peaks or to the “stiff peak stage.”
Try not to over-whip the meringue, or you will break it. The whites are perfect when they hold glossy peaks.
How Do I Fix A Broken Swiss Meringue?
If you over-whipped Swiss meringue, add another room-temperature egg white and whip it until it looks glossy. If that doesn’t work, your Swiss meringue may be too over-whipped, and you will need to start over again.
To pipe the Swiss meringue topping onto your lemon cupcake, fit a piping bag with a 1M (large star tip) or 809 (plain round tip). Fill the piping bag gently with the Swiss meringue to avoid deflating it. Pipe a mound of Swiss meringue onto each cupcake, ensuring you cover the lemon meringue filling.
You also can skip the meringue and top your lemon cupcakes with whipped cream.
Can I Toast the Lemon Meringue Cupcakes Without a Torch?
The easiest way to torch a lemon meringue cake recipe is a butane kitchen torch. My torch is just a handle that attaches to a can of butane gas.
Ignite the torch, lower the flame to medium, and toast the exterior of the piped Swiss meringue until it swells, browns, then contracts.
If you don’t have a torch, set your oven broiler on low. Arrange the cupcakes on a sheetpan and toast the meringue for 2-3 minutes under the broiler or until they’re as brown as you’d like.
Can I Bake and Freeze Lemon Meringue Cupcakes?
To make lemon meringue cupcakes ahead, bake and cool the cupcakes as instructed. Transfer the cupcakes to a freezer storage bag and freeze them for 3 months. When you’re ready to assemble them, allow them to thaw at room temperature.
You can refrigerate Meyer lemon curd for a few weeks, but I don’t recommend freezing it.
The Swiss meringue can’t be frozen because it will lose its volume.
What’s the Best Way To Store the Decorated Cupcakes?
Lemon meringue cupcakes that are made with homemade lemon curd should be refrigerated. If you filled your lemon meringue cupcakes with store-bought lemon curd, you would likely need to refrigerate them, too. Check the jar to see if it says, “refrigerate after opening,” to determine that.
Transfer the lemon meringue cupcakes to an open storage container and put them in the fridge uncovered. Swiss meringue will weep the longer it sits in the chilled air, but cupcakes have been fine in the fridge for up to two days. Remember that because there’s butter in them, they will be a little firmer than they would be if you stored them on the countertop. Let them sit out for 10 minutes before enjoying them if that bothers you. You can leave the cupcakes out at room temperature if you plan to consume them all the same day you assemble them.
How Do I Serve Lemon Meringue Cupcakes?
Garnish the lemon meringue cupcakes with thin lemon slices, candied lemon peel, or leave them as is.
Lemon Meringue Cupcakes are the perfect dessert for special occasions, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any get-together. There’s really no inappropriate time for them.
Be sure to pin this delicious Lemon Meringue Cupcake recipe to your desserts board, and don’t forget to share it with your friends. If you made it and loved it, leave me a rating and review below in the comment section!
Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
at Sense & EdibilityEquipment
- butane torch (optional)
- muffin pan
- handheld (or stand) mixer
- #16 portion scoop (optional)
- apple corer (optional)
Ingredients
For the Lemon Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground ginger optional
- 1 cup (250 milliliters) buttermilk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) vanilla extract
- 3/4 cups (170 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (6 grams) lemon zest from 1 large lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 3/4 cups (180 grams) Meyer Lemon Curd (or jarred lemon curd)
Lemon Simple Syrup (Optional)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 milliliter milliliters) lemon juice from zested lemon
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
Meringue Topping
- 4 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) caster sugar (also called superfine sugar)
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Optional Garnish
- fresh lemon slices (cut in halves or quarters)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly grease cupcake pan with non-stick baking spray, then line it with baking cups.
Make the Lemon Cupcake Batter
- Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and ground ginger together 3 times. Set this dry mixture aside. In a separate pitcher or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Set this aside.
- In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, blend together the unsalted butter, sugar, lemon zest, and kosher salt on medium speed for 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and paddle. Begin mixing the butter-sugar mixture again, this time on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beater once during the mixing time.
- Add the eggs to the mixing bowl- one at a time- mixing for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl down after you add each egg. Once both eggs have been added, increase the speed to medium-high and whip the mixture until it looks light and airy, this should take about 4 minutes. Stop the mixer 2 times to scrape down the bowl and beater.
- Add a third of the flour to the mixer's bowl and mix on low speed just until the flour is incorporated.Next, add half of the buttermilk and mix for a 20 seconds at low speed.Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters. Repeat the 1/3 flour-remaining milk-remaining flour cycle, making sure to scrape down the bowl after adding the milk, and one final time after the last addition of flour.
- Finish mixing the batter by hand using a rubber spatula to fold the batter 10 times.
Bake the Lemon Cupcakes and Make the Simple Syrup
- Make the lemon simple syrup while the cupcakes are baking. In a small bowl, stir together the reserved 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice (from the lemon you zested) and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. Microwave this mixture on high for 15-20 seconds. Once it boils, pull it out of the microwave and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Once the cupcakes are baked, remove their pan from the oven and brush two layers of the lemon simple syrup over the cupcakes. After the cupcakes are brushed, allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes to allow them time to set up. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
Fill the Lemon Cupcakes with the Lemon Curd
- Press an apple corer (or cookie cutter) into the center of a completely cool cupcake. After removing the middle, use your finger to press down any remaining cake in the center of the cupcake. This helps form a barrier between the paper liner and the lemon curd.
- Spoon a tablespoon of the Meyer lemon curd into the hole you made in the cupcake. Gently tap the cupcake to settle the curd a bit adding a little more curd if there's a divot in the filling.
- Continue removing and filling the cupcakes' centers. Set the tray of cupcakes aside while you make the Swiss meringue topping.
Make the Swiss Meringue Topping
- Place the egg whites and sugar into a very clean bowl and use a whisk to mix them together for 30 seconds.Nestle the bowl onto a 2-quart saucepan filled with a cup of water.Heat the egg whites and sugar in a double boiler constantly stirring, over medium heat until the whites reach 160°F (71°C) when measured by a candy thermometer (or until really warm to the touch).
- Add the cream of tartar to the warm egg whites and begin whipping the mixture with the whisk attachment of your electric mixer at medium speed.Once the egg whites look foamy, increase the speed to high. Whip the egg whites for another 7-8 minutes, or until they stand out in stiff peaks or to the "stiff peak stage."
Decorate and Serve the Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
- Once the Swiss meringue is ready, fit a piping bag with a 1M (large star tip) or 809 (plain round tip). Gently fill the piping bag with the Swiss meringue.
- Pipe a mound of Swiss meringue onto each cupcake, making sure to cover the lemon meringue filling.
- Ignite your butane torch so the flame is about 3 inches from the stem of the torch (or set it to medium flame). Toast the exterior of the piped Swiss meringue to a deep golden brown.
- Serve the Lemon Meringue Cupcakes as is or decorated with fresh lemon slices. Enjoy the Lemon Meringue Cupcakes within 2 days of decorating. Store leftovers in the refrigerated in an uncovered container.
Notes
Swaps and Subs:
- Use store-bought lemon curd, or replace the lemon curd with lime, mango, passion fruit, or guava curd.
- To make your own cake flour at home: Measure out 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. Remove 3 tablespoons of the flour from the bowl. Replace those 3 tablespoons with the same amount of cornstarch. Sift as instructed in the directions above.
- For homemade buttermilk: add 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. Stir together to combine, then allow this mixture to sit for 15 minutes before using as instructed.
- If you only have salted butter, use that and omit the salt from the recipe.
Tips and Techniques:
- Avoid over-baking the cupcakes as that causes them to dry out. The tops of the cupcakes should spring back quickly when you press them.
- It's okay if the curd overflows slightly (or more than slightly), but remember that the meringue needs something dry to stick to later.
- Ensure you use a very clean glass or metal mixing bowl before heating your egg whites. Fat inhibits egg whites from developing volume and whipping to a stiff peak.
- If you've over-whipped the egg whites, whip in another room-temperature egg white. If the mixture doesn't return to a glossy state, it may be too far gone, and you will have to start all over again.
- Try not to be too rough transferring the meringue to the piping bag or you'll deflate it.
- The meringue is properly torched when it swells, browns, then contracts.
Broiling the Meringue:
- Set your oven broiler to low. Place one of the rack 8-12" from the overhead heating element.
- Arrange the cupcakes on a sheetpan.
- Place the pan into the oven and toast the meringue for 2-3 minutes under the broiler or until they're as brown as you'd like. Keep an eye on them as they will brown quickly.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions:
- To make these lemon meringue cupcakes ahead, wait until the day you plan to assemble and serve them to make the Swiss meringue. Fill and decorate them the same day.
- The Meyer lemon curd stores well in the fridge for a few weeks. The cupcakes you can be baked, cooled, then transferred to a freezer storage bag. Freeze the cupcakes for 3 months.
- When you're ready to assemble them, allow them to thaw at room temperature.
- Transfer the decorated cupcakes to an open storage container and put them in the fridge uncovered. The longer Swiss meringue sits in the chilled air, the more it will weep.
These look amazing and I’m going to have to make them. I’ve not had a kitchen mishaps like you (even to this day I follow a recipe when I cook something) but my sister and my best friend decided to bake me a cake for my 10th birthday. They used 12 eggs, about a cup of flour and no sugar. You can imagine how it turned out!
Oh, you poor thing!
This recipe looks amazing and very delicious! And the decorate is wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I’m excited to prepare it to my family!
Enjoy it!
My pleasure! Let me know what you think!
I have to confess, I absolutely love lemon meringue, actually I love anything lemon. When I saw these cupcakes my mouth was watering. I kept getting that sensation of the meringue melting in my mouth followed by that rich lemon curd and finally the delicate moust cupcake. Just fabulous!
Thanks for all the tips hope your enjoying your somewhat new location even though it has been a few years!?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!