Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

A plate of delicious lemon curd cupcakes with chickpea meringue
This content originally appeared on 
tasteforlife.com
Prep Time:
90 minutes
Yield:
12
Recipe Source:
The Healthy Convert by Nicole Maree ($19.99, Hardie Grant Books, 2017)

Ingredients

Cake

  • 7 oz your favorite gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 5 1⁄2 oz rapadura sugar (unrefined cane sugar)
  • 1⁄2 tsp ground sea salt
  • 1 cup rice milk, room temperature
  • 2 3⁄4 oz unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Lemon Curd

  • 1⁄2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 fl oz tinned coconut milk
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1⁄4 tsp turmeric
  • 1⁄4 cup maple syrup

Meringue

  • 1 (14 oz) can salt-free chickpeas, chilled overnight
  • 1⁄2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 5 oz caster (superfine) sugar
  • 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract

Equipment

  • Blowtorch

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 340°. Line a 12-hole standard muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, cornstarch, sugar, and salt together. In a separate bowl mix rice milk, applesauce, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Add wet mixture to dry and fold through until just incorporated.
  2. Fill cupcake liners until they are three-quarters full. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Stand for 5 minutes before turning out, top-side up, onto a wire rack to cool.
  3. To make lemon curd, combine all lemon curd ingredients in a small saucepan set over medium–high heat. Whisk continuously for 5 to 7 minutes, or until mixture is smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely.
  4. Cut a deep hole in the top of each cooled cupcake with a small piping tip. Be careful not to cut through to the bottom of the cupcake. Fill each hole with lemon curd.
  5. Drain chickpeas and reserve 5 oz of the chilled chickpea water (aquafaba) in a large glass or metal mixing bowl. You want the bowl to be completely clean and free of grease. You can use lemon juice to clean the bowl. Rinse and dry the bowl well with a clean towel before use. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk chickpea aquafaba and cream of tartar on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Continue mixing and add sugar one tablespoon at a time until it’s incorporated. Once all the sugar is added, continue whisking for one more minute. Add vanilla and whisk for another 30 seconds.
  6. Spoon meringue into a piping (icing) bag with a large star-shaped nozzle and pipe it onto the cupcakes. Place under a preheated broiler until meringue is lightly golden, or use a small kitchen blowtorch to brown them. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

  • You can substitute the caster sugar in the meringue with 5 oz of rapadura sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon of arrowroot starch. It will still work; however, it will produce a flatter meringue and a less airy texture.
  • Don’t have a kitchen blowtorch? No worries—use your oven’s broiler instead!

Nutrition Info

Per serving (1 cupcake): 197 Calories, 2 g Protein, 47 g Carbohydrates, 2 g Fiber, 1 g Total fat, 150 mg Sodium, ★ Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Calcium, Phosphorus