Lime Cupcakes

I was asked to create some sample cupcakes this weekend, one of the flavours was lime, so I set about thinking what the best way to put this in was. I decided to try a few different methods and leave it to the couple to decide which their favourite was. 

For all the cupcakes I made a lime basic cupcake:

300g Butter

300g Caster Sugar

300g Self raising flour

6 Eggs

I baked these at 180oC for around 30 minutes and then left to cool. 

Cooling cupcakes

While they were cooling I made a lemon and lime curd for the centre of the cakes. 

Zest and Juice of 2 limes

Zest and Juice of 3 lemons

250g Caster Sugar

125g Butter

4 Eggs

Combine the zest, juice, sugar and butter in a bowl over gently simmering water. Stir until the sugar and butter have melted. 

Lightly whisk the eggs and then add to the mixture. Continue stirring until the mixture has started to thicken and is coating the back of the spoon. Set aside and leave to cool, as it cools it'll thicken even further. 

Lemon and lime curd

I cut the tops of the cupcakes off, so they were level, and a small disc in the centre. I filled this with some of the curd. 

The topping is where the cakes differed. I decided to try two varieties of meringue and one with butter cream. 

Firstly I made a soft merringue. I combined 1 egg white with 50g Caster Sugar in a bowl over simmering water. I whisked this until the sugar had dissolved. Took it off the heat and whisked until the mixture was forming soft peaks. This was then piped onto the prepared cupcakes. 

Secondly I made a baked meringue topping. 1 egg white was combined with 50g Caster sugar and whisked until forming soft peaks. This was piped onto the cakes and then placed under a hot grill until the top was golden. 

Finally I made Italian meringue buttercream and stirred in some lime curd, from above. I piped this onto the cakes. 

Baked and soft meringue lime cupcakes

I used little coloured sugar paste shapes to distinguish between the cakes and have sent them off to Wales for the testing. The verdict from this kitchen is the baked meringue is the favourite but we shall see which they prefer. 

Old-Fashioned Meringues

The first recipe from Annie Bell's Baking Bible meringue chapter is of course meringues!! I not really had success with meringues in the past, they tend to be too chewy, or under cooked, or over cooked. I decided to just go with the basics and see how I get on. It's a very standard recipe. 

3 egg whites

175g Caster sugar

Whisk up the egg whites until they are really stiff, the book says shaving foam consistency which I thought was a good description. 

Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time and whisk well. The mixture should be thick and glossy. This is where I've made mistakes in the past, not whisking the eggs enough. 

Ready to go in the oven

Spoon the mixture onto lined baking trays and bake in the oven, 140oC, for 2 hours. They should be crunchy on the outside and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. 

Cooked meringue

The verdict: These meringues were very plain, however, they were very tasty. I don't usually like meringue, so I wouldn't eat many, but they just melted in the mouth with a very slight chewy centre. They would have been very nice with some fruit or cream. The book mentions how to make other flavours, this is something I'd be willing to try in the future.