Method

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 190°C and prepare your pan with cupcake papers. Weigh the two eggs; if they weigh 100g, for instance, all your other ingredients – the butter, sugar and flour – must each weigh 100g. Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with a handheld mixer for a minute. Add the two eggs and beat for another minute. Add the flour, bicarb and baking powder and beat until just incorporated. Slowly add a tablespoon of milk and beat until a smooth batter is formed. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake papers. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden brown on top. Cool on a drying rack.

To make the lemon curd:

Heat the lemon juice and butter gently in a heavy bottomed pan until the butter has melted, mixing with a whisk every so often. Add the sugar and whisk until the sugar has dissolved, then add all your eggs. If it the lemon mixture is too hot, remove it from the heat and let it cool down before you whisk in your eggs and put back on the heat. Whisk vigorously for about five minutes until it thickens. Then remove the pot from the heat and keep whisking for another minute to expel some of the heat. Leave the curd to cool for 10 minutes before bottling and refrigerating.

To make the meringue:

Place the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof mixing bowl. (Preferably glass.) Place this bowl over a pot of simmering water (not touching it) and whisk with a handheld mixer until it starts doubling and tripling in volume. Test the temperature constantly; if it feels warm, remove the bowl from the water pot and put on a kitchen towel on your counter and whisk for a further few minutes until it has cooled off. The meringue will be thick, shiny and luscious. (While the egg white has cooked in the whisking and heating process, pregnant women should not eat it.)

Assembly:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
 Place a generous dollop of cold lemon curd in the centre of each cupcake. Either pipe with a bag or use a palette knife to spread the meringue over the lemon curd, hiding the curd completely. Place the cupcakes on a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 5 to 8 minutes, until the meringue has the lightest touch of gold.

By Cara Brink