LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 12 standard muffin cups.
• Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in 1/4 cup of the sugar. Make a well in the center.
• Place the egg and egg yolk in a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Beat the eggs together, then stir in the milk, vanilla, and butter. Pour the egg mixture into the well in dry ingredients. Fold in gently until just combined -- batter will be lumpy.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cups. Bake for 15 minutes -- the cakes will only rise a little way up the cups. (Leave the oven on the same temperature).
• Cool the cakes in the muffin tins for about 10 minutes, then loosen with a knife, but leave in the tin.
• Hollow out the center of each cake with a melon baller, being careful not to pierce through the base of the cake.
• Stir the lemon curd well, then spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch plain nozzle. Carefully pipe the curd into the cavity of each cake.
• Whisk the egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form. Add a quarter of the remaining sugar at a time, beating well after each addition, until stiff glossy peaks form.
• Place 1 heaping tablespoon of the meringue mixture on top of each cake and form peaks wit hthe back of a spoon. Sprinkle with a little of the extra sugar over the meringue.
• Return the cakes to the oven for 5 minutes or until the meringue is lightly golden and crisp and the cakes come away slightly from the side of the tin.
• Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack. The meringue topping might come off the cakes when they first come out of the oven, so handle the cakes carefully. The meringue will adhere to the cakes as they cool.
• Serve warm or at room temperature. The cakes are best eaten the day they are made so the meringue stays crispy.