Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Saturday afternoon and nothing to do hmmm....... i know ill bake some cupcakes! tonight we have some friends coming over for pizza night and they are both mad keen on my cupcakes. I know that coconut is a bit of a fave with them and i also have a heap of lemons that my mother in law had given to me fresh from the tree the other day, so Lemon Meringue it is. I must admit Lemon Meringue pie is one of my most favourite deserts my mother in law Myra can make a mean lemon meringue pie she always seems to get the meringue so high and fluffy i myself haven't made a heck of alot of meringue in my time and the thought of making it is kinda scary however i managed to conker my fear and these cupcakes managed to come out problem free and tasted great.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes:

First start by making your lemon curd - or you could cheat and just buy some from the store

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind
1/4 cup of lemon juice
40g of butter

combine all ingredients into a small heatproof bowl
then place bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and constantly stir until butter has melted and you have a smooth consistency kinda like a gravy
remove from heat then cover tightly, refrigerate curd until cold

preheat oven to 180 degrees

Coconut Lemon Curd Cake

125 g butter softened
2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind
2/3 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/4 cups self raising flour

Beat butter, rind, sugar and eggs in electric mixer till light and fluffy
beat in milk and coconut then sift in the flour
divide into cupcake cases ( i got 11 out of this mixture )
bake for 15 minutes
let cool on wire rack
turn up the oven to 200 degrees ready for the meringue
cut a 2cm deep hole into the centre of each cupcake then fill with the lemon curd
discard the cake tops - or eat them
make the coconut meringue

Coconut meringue

4 egg whites
1 cup of caster sugar
1 1/3 cups of shredded coconut chopped finely ( i just used desiccated coconut and it came out alright )

beat egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form
gradually add sugar, beating until sugar dissolves
fold in coconut

spoon into a piping bag with 1cm plain tube
pipe meringue on the top of each cupcake
place cupcakes on oven tray and place in oven for 5 minutes or so just until meringue has browned slightly