Monday, January 11, 2010

Blowtorch fun

                I've been having this insane craving for lemon meringue cupcakes ever since I had some at Marmalade Pantry not too long ago. It was a good mix of sweet and tart, with an airy sponge in between. In fact, I believed it to be mostly sweet with a slight tartness. I couldn't be sure because I believe the minute the cake made contact with the mouth, the " delicious" button in my brain started a flashing and savouring was not a function that was available when I operate in this mode. It was more like a NOM NOM NOM.
   
            After much net trawling and cross referancing, I decided to follow Martha Stewart's Lemon Meringue Cupcake recipe. You can get it here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lemon-meringue-cupcakes

            I suggest watching the video because she does show you what it means to beat the butter and sugar till its "light and fluffy", something which always eludes me. I just pretend I know what it means and cross my fingers when the cake is baking.

        WARNING: The recipe doesn't dictate exactly what she is doing in the video. Like making the curd in the baine marie( doube boiling method) as opposed to just sticking everything in the saucepan. I was cautious, I used the double boiling method. I also did the cone method (digging out a little circle of cake and filling the hole with the curd then capping it back with the cut out circle) and filled each cupcake with half a tablespoon of curd as opposed to smearing one tablespoon. I halved the recipe and got 16 cupcakes. In any case the end result is delicious. Although it differs greatly from the ones served at Marmalde Pantry's,it still  leaves one feeling satiated.

           I reckon its a cultural thing as well, since us asians don't really have a lot of lemony tart desserts and so almost every asian person (save for myself) found the curd too tart and did the scrunched up face when they hit the curd. I guess it was then that it oc-curd(couldn't resist) to them that they should have eaten the cupcake as a whole and not in parts. The gorilla and good friend (both hailing from the uk) thought it was just the right amount of tart. I personally am a fan of lemon meringue pie and cookies so I loved the tartness. But you have been warned!  Now I present to you my labour of love:



And here's another shot:



Don't they look yummy? I was experimenting with ways to end the tip of the cupcake. I think short and straight looks best, don't you think?


  

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