Lemon and poppy seed meringue cupcakes
Makes: 12
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Kris Kirkham
Lemon and poppy seed meringue cupcakes
These zesty poppy seed cupcakes are inspired by the classic pudding, lemon meringue pie
Makes: 12
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
327Kcal
Fat
16gr
Saturates
8gr
Carbs
41gr
Sugars
30gr
Fibre
1gr
Protein
5gr
Salt
0.6gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 40g poppy seeds
- 175g soft butter
- 175g caster sugar
- 175g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 12 tsp lemon curd
For the topping
- 3 large egg whites
- 150g caster sugar
- 12 tsp lemon curd
Step by step
- Put the poppy seeds in a small bowl with some cold water, stir, and leave to soak for about 30 minutes. This brings out the flavour and stops them from being too crunchy in the cupcakes.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with cases. Put the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and cream together for at least 2 minutes until pale. Drain the poppy seeds and stir them into the cake batter, along with the lemon juice.
- Divide roughly half the mixture between the cupcake cases, making a slight dip in the centre of each. Add a teaspoonful of curd to each one, then top with the rest of the cake batter. Bake for about 25 minutes until risen and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
- To make Swiss meringue for the topping (a form of meringue where the egg whites are cooked), put the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl – use the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one. Rest the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure it doesn’t touch the water. With a balloon whisk, whisk the egg whites and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture feels fairly hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. At this point, the mixture will be foamy rather than thickly whipped. Remove the bowl and whisk the egg whites for 10 minutes as they cool using an electric whisk or stand mixer – this is where a stand mixer comes in especially handy, leaving you hands-free!
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Spread another teaspoon of lemon curd on top of each cupcake, using the back of the spoon to smooth it out. Fit a piping bag with a star nozzle, fill with the meringue and pipe little stars on top of each cupcake, or simply spoon on and swirl decoratively. Using a blowtorch (or see Kitchen Tip on previous page), gently caramelise the meringue topping before serving. Take care with the blowtorch if you have used paper cases for the cupcakes.TipIf you don’t have a blowtorch, you can brown the meringue in the oven, which also gives a crisper finish. Preheat the oven to its highest setting and bake the cupcakes on a tray for 3-5 minutes until lightly browned.
