Meringue Cupcakes

Recipe from CupcakesImages by Yasmin

I love meringue. It is beautiful on lemon meringue pie, so it is just as beautiful as an icing for cupcakes. To make this cupcake look even more sweet and appetising it is dusted with jelly crystals. De-lic-ious! This was served for afternoon tea with Citrus Slice, posted previously. Great for a hot summers day.

Ingredients:
For cupcake:

• 1 1/3 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Meringue Topping:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• jelly crystals, to decorate (any colour)

Method:
Line cupcake tins with patty pans.

For cupcakes, combine the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. In a medium sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. With mixer on slow speed, add the mixed dry ingredients and milk. Spoon the batter into the prepared patty pans, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for 10-20 minutes, until golden brown and firm to touch. Transfer to wire rack once cool.

For Meringue, beat at high speed the egg whites until soft peaks form when beaters are removed. While the motor is running slowly pour the sugar into the egg whites. Beat until meringue is thick and forms soft peaks.

Spoon meringue on top of the cupcakes. Using the spoon create small peaks on the cupcakes. Dust with jelly crystals. Store in refrigerator in sealed container.