Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
The classic lemon meringue pie gets the (cup)cake treatment: fluffy cupcakes topped with sweet and tangy lemon curd and a light-as-air toasted meringue frosting.
Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes
Lemon meringue pie is a classic dessert, but it is not exactly a beginner recipe!
Since I myself am what I would call a beginner baker, I love easy dessert recipes that anyone can make. Like these lemon meringue cupcakes!
These adorable cupcakes bring together all the flavors of a lemon meringue pie, as well as that distinctive meringue topping, in a handheld form. They are actually fairly simple to make, believe it or not! And wow, are they gorgeous!
To start, we used a box cake mix as an easy shortcut. But using butter when making the cake mix makes it taste like the cupcakes were baked from scratch! (This is one of my husband’s baking secrets…he is the chef in our family).
Next, we used a pre-made lemon curd to top each cupcake. Yes, you can also make this from scratch, but it is much easier to use store bought and they are actually usually quite good! (We use Kroger’s store brand for our lemon layer cake too, but you’re welcome to sue your favorite brand).
Finally, we topped these cupcakes with a fluffy dollop of meringue frosting and gave it a little bit of heat to get that toasted effect.
How cool is that?!
These lemon meringue pie cupcakes are a tasty summer treat that’s the perfect combination of sweet, tart, and fluffy!
Ingredients
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For the Cupcakes
- 1 box of Butter Yellow Cake mix
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 large eggs
- 10 ounces lemon curd
For the Meringue
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Kitchen Supplies Used
- Muffin tin
- Cupcake liners
- Stand mixer or electric mixer and large mixing bowl
- Frosting decorating bag — We love these reusable silicone piping bags because you can wash and use them over and over again. A star tip makes those gorgeous icing swirls that you see at fancy bakeries.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep cupcake pan with liners.
- Add all cupcake ingredients (except lemon curd) to the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl, using an electric mixer) and beat on medium speed until well combined.
- Scoop batter into the pan so that the liners are 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 19-20 minutes, or until the top of the cupcakes just starts to turn golden brown.
- Place cupcakes on wire racks and allow to cool completely before frosting.
To Make the Meringue
- In a large mixing bowl (or washed stand mixer bowl, using whisk attachment) whip up the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
- Add salt, then gradually pour in the sugar as you mix. As the mixture fluffs up, add the vanilla extract.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium-high speed and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
To Decorate
- Scoop the meringue frosting into your piping bag.
- Spoon about 2 Tablespoons of lemon curd on top of each cupcake.
- Pipe the meringue on top of the lemon curd. Use a kitchen torch to lightly toast the frosting so it is golden brown on the outside.
- Garnish with lemon zest and or mint leaves.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Store Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting?
Meringue can stay out at room temperature for a few hours, so these cupcakes will look nice on your dessert table. However, for longer-term storage they should be kept refrigerated. After about 8 hours, the meringue may begin to fall or get a bit mushy.
When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, these cupcakes will stay good for 2-3 days.
Can You Toast the Meringue in the Oven?
A kitchen torch comes in handy because you don’t need to wait for the oven to heat up and you can toast all of the cupcakes in a couple minutes.
That being said, if you don’t have a kitchen torch, you can still create that perfect toasted marshmallow look for your meringue!
To do so, turn your oven on to the “broil” setting. When the oven reaches temperature, place the cupcakes on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet on the top rack of your oven.
Broil for about 30 seconds — they will brown quickly — so keep a close watch!
Can You Add Lemon Juice to the Cupcakes?
You may notice that our cupcakes are not lemon flavored — the lemon flavor in this recipe comes from the layer of lemon curd. This makes them not too overwhelmingly lemony or sour, so they are perfect for a crowd.
However, if you’d like to add extra lemon flavor to the cupcakes, lemon zest is actually your best bet. Add a teaspoon or two of freshly grated lemon zest to the batter before baking.
Alternatively, you could add a teaspoon of lemon juice. However, you don’t really want to add much more than that because the acidity can affect the texture of the cake.
Lemon extract is another option that would provide more intense lemon flavoring, if that is your goal.
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Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
Equipment
- Muffin tin
- cupcake liners
- Stand mixer or electric mixer and large mixing bowl
- Frosting Decorating Bag
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 box Yellow cake mix
- 1 cup Water
- 1/3 cup Unsalted butter softened
- 3 Large eggs
- 10 ounces Lemon curd
For the Meringue
- 3 Egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon Cream of tartar
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- 6 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and place cupcake liners in a muffin tin.
- Add all cupcake ingredients (except lemon curd) to the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl, using an electric mixer) and beat until well combined.
- Scoop batter into the pan so that the liners are 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 19-20 minutes, or until the top of the cupcakes just starts to turn golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
To Make the Meringue
- In a large mixing bowl (or washed stand mixer bowl) whip up the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.
- Add salt, then gradually pour in the sugar as you mix. As the mixture fluffs up, add the vanilla extract.
- Increase the mixer speed and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
To Decorate
- Scoop the meringue frosting into your piping bag.
- Top each cupcake with about 2 Tablespoons of lemon curd.
- Pipe the meringue on top of the lemon curd. Use a kitchen torch to gently taste the frosting so it is golden brown on the outside.
Notes
Nutrition
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