These Lemon Meringue Cupcakes take all of the best flavors of the classic pie and turn them into a soft, fluffy, and tart cupcake (filled with lemon curd!). Perfect for spring and summer gatherings, these cupcakes are a bakery-worthy treat that will make your family and friends swoon with every bite.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recipe testers agree, these cupcakes are “AMAZING”! Adrienne, Dawn and Melanie all raved, here are some snippets from their comments. “They are delicious! They have a really great lemon flavor. Just so so good! I shared with our neighbor friends and they were raving about them! The cupcakes were an enormous hit! My Mahjong ladies said they were the best they ever had.”
I don’t know what it is about Lemon Meringue Pie that makes it so insanely tasty; maybe it’s the sweet and sour lemon curd, or pillowy meringue that melts-in-your-mouth, either way it’s probably one of my favorite pies. Recently, I had the idea to turn the pie flavors into a Lemon Meringue Cupcake and boy, I must say they were a hit!
With multiple rounds of recipe testing by both me and my recipe testers, we’ve perfected the recipe. The lemon cake base is filled with a homemade or store-bought lemon curd and topped with a meringue icing for treat that’s unbelievably impressive.
When I served these to some friends and family, they couldn’t believe they were made from scratch and not purchased from a bakery (truly the ultimate compliment!). All of the taste testers raved! I credit it to the marshmallow frosting inspired by one of my favorite bakers, Joann Chang of Flour Bakery. Serve alongside Deviled Strawberries and Lemon Blueberry Cookies for the most memorable dessert spread. P.S. It makes a generous amount, if you have leftovers it’s delicious between graham crackers, or give your hubby a spoon! That’s what I did!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- All of the flavors of the classic pie in an easy to eat cupcake. These lemon curd cupcakes are a bit easier to transport and serve to a group rather than slicing a whole pie for a potluck or picnic.
- Easy to prep in advance to cut down on prep time. Make the lemon curd up to a day in advance and bake the cupcakes too! Just note that the meringue frosting should be made right before assembling.
- A sweet bite that’s guaranteed to impress. Trust me when I say this is one of those recipes you should turn to when you want your family and friends to say “wow”.
Ingredients
Lemon Curd (or buy quality storebought lemon curd)
- Lemon juice: Make sure your juice is fresh! Don’t use the pre-bottled stuff, it’s muddied in flavor.
- Unsalted butter: Gives the curd that creamy texture and uber rich flavor (if you’re using salted butter, reduce salt by ⅛ teaspoon).
- Heavy cream: Adds a little hint of extra decadence.
- Large eggs: Binds the curd together to give that velvety texture. Bring them to room temperature!
- Large egg yolks: The key to a luscious flavor that balances the tartness of the lemon juice. Make sure you save the egg whites for frosting!
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the curd just right.
- Kosher salt: Elevates the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Vanilla extract: A little dash rounds out all of the flavors and adds caramel-like notes.
Get the full recipe in the recipe card below.
Cupcakes:
- Unbleached, all-purpose flour: Make sure you sift after measuring and if at high altitude, use a higher protein flour such as King Arthur.
- Baking powder: Responsible for the light and fluffy texture.
- Baking soda: Leavening agent that makes the batter tender.
- Kosher salt: A little pinch makes everything better!
- Granulated sugar: White or cane sugar work perfectly to sweeten the batter.
- Fresh lemon zest: Adds another bright punch of lemon flavor.
- Salted butter: The fat that binds the batter together, if you are using unsalted butter, increase the salt by ¼ teaspoon.
- Neutral oil: Such as avocado or vegetable, works with the butter to keep the cupcake moist.
- Large eggs: Another binding agent for the batter.
- Lemon juice: Fresh is best, it’s used in so many components of this cupcake!
- Vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract: Key to a bit more rich flavor.
- Greek Yogurt (whole milk) or Sour Cream: Adds creaminess and a hint of tang to make the batter a bit more moist without weighing it down.
- Whole milk: Creates that perfect batter consistency while also adding nice rich flavor.
Fluffy Marshmallow Frosting:
- White granulated sugar: Responsible for the sweet taste and also helps to stabilize the pillowy texture.
- Large egg whites: The base to this frosting that is responsible for the cloud-like texture. Make sure they are room temperature and without any yolks, they won’t whip quite right.
- Pure vanilla extract: Key to any good vanilla frosting.
- Sea salt: The finishing touch to bring out the sweetness.
How to Make Lemon Meringue Cookies
Make the Homemade Lemon Curd (or purchase a quality jar)
Step 1: Heat the Ingredients
Use a non-reactive small saucepan (stainless steel or nonstick). Avoid aluminum, cast iron, or copper.
In the saucepan over medium heat, combine lemon juice, butter, and heavy cream. Heat just until the butter melts and the mixture is hot but not boiling. Remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and egg yolks until pale, thick, and smooth.
Step 2: Temper the Eggs
Temper the eggs: Slowly whisk about ¼ cup of the hot lemon mixture into the egg mixture. Gradually whisk in a little more until combined.
Pour everything back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides, until thick enough to coat a spoon and hold a line when swiped with your finger (5–8 minutes).
Step 3: Strain the Cool the Curd
Remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. This will remove any lumps. Stir in kosher salt and vanilla.
Cover by pressing a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface of the curd and refrigerate until completely chilled.
For the Cupcakes:
Step 4: Combine the Dry and Wet Ingredients
Preheat oven to 375°F (190° C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In your mixer bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Mix on medium-low speed until fragrant and the mixture looks like wet sand.
Add cooled melted butter and oil to the lemon sugar and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. (2 minutes for cane sugar).
Add the eggs and vanilla, then mix on medium for 60 seconds. Mix in lemon juice (it might appear curdled after doing this, but it’s fine!), mix until combined.
Mix in the Greek yogurt (or sour cream) until combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.
With mixer on low, mix in ½ the dry ingredients until just combined, then add the warm milk (if you forgot to take it out of the fridge, warm in microwave for 7-15 seconds) and mix until just combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, mix for 10 seconds, then finish mixing with a whisk until smooth, but don’t over-mix here!
Step 5: Scoop and Bake the Cupcakes
Scoop (I like using a #16 cookie scoop) into the prepared muffin pan (love, love these pans), filling the liners no more than ¾ full. You may get closer to 14 cupcakes. I typically bake any extra alongside in an oiled custard cup. But I had just enough for 12 cupcakes, filling pretty full.
Bake at 375°F for 5 minutes, then reduce oven to 350°F (without opening the door) and bake an additional 15–17 minutes, until centers spring back and a toothpick comes out clean. Mine were ready at 20 minutes (total time)
Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.
For the Marshmallow Frosting:
Step 6: Warm the Egg Whites and Sugar
In a heatproof bowl, whisk sugar and egg whites until combined.
Set bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water (do not let bowl touch the water).
Cook, whisking occasionally, until very hot to the touch and sugar is dissolved, 6–8 minutes. If you are worried about the egg whites being cooked, be sure to cook until they reach 160°F.
Step 7: Whip the Egg Whites
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high for 6–8 minutes, until cool, fluffy, glossy, and thick like shaving cream. Don’t overwhip the frosting, just until soft peaks form; stop when it’s just like shaving cream.
Add vanilla and salt; whip until combined. Use immediately.
Assemble the Cupcakes
Step 7: Fill the Cupcakes with Curd
Use a cupcake corer or melon baller (an apple corer will work too) to remove the center of each cooled cupcake, going about ⅔ of the way down.
Fill centers with chilled lemon curd using a piping bag or teaspoon.
Step 8: Frost and Brûlée
Top the lemon cupcakes with a generous scoop of marshmallow frosting. Or you can pipe it on using a large round tip.
Use the back of a spoon firmly pushing down on the top of meringue and then pulling up to create swirls and peaks.
Using a kitchen torch, torch the frosting until lightly golden, or place cupcakes under the broiler for 2–4 minutes, rotating often and watching closely.
Enjoy within 6 hours, or see storage tips below.
Expert Tips
- Chill the lemon curd completely and cool your cupcakes before filling. If either are warm, then the curd will melt into the cake and look quite messy!
- Don’t pack your flour into the measuring cups, I guarantee your cupcakes will be dense. Scoop your flour with a spoon into your measuring cup, then level with a knife. If you want be super precise, grab a kitchen scale.
- If you happen to overcook the lemon curd, don’t worry, you will strain out any flaky egg pieces with the fine mesh sieve before chilling.
- Fill your muffin cups about ¾ full. Every muffin tin is different, but this batter should yield 12 cupcakes total. If you happen to have extra, then bake it in a custard cup and enjoy a special treat!
- Make sure you take the temperature of your egg whites with an instant read thermometer (160ºF) for the frosting before whipping them in the stand mixer. Heating the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler helps the sugar to dissolve so that when you beat the mixture in the stand mixer, it becomes beautiful shiny ribbons of meringue frosting (also known as Swiss meringue).
- Avoid bottled lemon juice at all costs! Freshly squeeze the juice, it only takes 5 minutes, and the flavor will be much more vibrant and not chemically in taste.
- If you want a fluffy cupcake every time, make sure your ingredients are room temperature prior to baking.
- Did you know the baker’s reward is to eat the center of the cupcake where it was scooped out for the curd? Enjoy a treat for yourself! One of my recipe testers loved her cupcake corer, makes the job easier!
- Bakery Tip: Don’t skip the 2-minute mixing step after adding the eggs and oil. This emulsifies the batter and incorporates air, giving these cupcakes their soft, bakery-style crumb.
High Altitude Adjustments
These cupcakes have been tested at high altitude (Denver area 5280 ft) as well as by my recipe testers across the country at sea level and in between. Here are my tips to adjust:
- Reduce baking powder to 1 teaspoon
- Decrease sugar to ¾ cup, and increase milk by 2 teaspoons
- Bake as directed, watching your time, mine were done perfectly at 20 minutes.
Variations
- Cut down on prep time with store-bought lemon curd: If you’re crunched for time, I highly recommend using store-bought. You’ll need about 1 cup to fill the cupcakes.
- Broil the meringue frosting to finish. If you don’t have a culinary torch, don’t worry! I’ve tested these for 2 to 4 minutes under the broiler until the meringue turns light golden, and it works like a charm.
- Enhance the lemon flavor even more: If you’re a true lemon lover and want to pucker with each bite, you can even add a few drops of lemon extract to the cupcake batter.
- Make the cupcakes gluten-free. Replace the cake flour with a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend designed for baking. I would suggest replacing 1 cup gluten-free flour + ⅓ cup oat flour + ⅓ cup almond flour for a better texture.
Storage
These Lemon Meringue cupcakes are best in terms of texture and flavor on the day they are made. You can store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 6 hours before an event. Or make the curd and cupcakes ahead of time, then make the frosting and frost them the day of eating!
If you have leftovers, refrigerate them for up to 2 days. I definitely want to caution that the meringue frosting may weep a bit, but they’re still full of sunshine lemony flavor!
When refrigerating the cupcakes, make sure you let them come to room temperature before serving.
A random tidbit that I love to do with lemon curd in general is to use any leftovers to spread onto scones for breakfast later in the week, it’s the best way to start your day!
FAQs
Use a melon baller to scoop out the cake (and enjoy it as a snack for yourself!), or if you have one, these cupcake corers work like a charm. Pipe the lemon curd in the center or use a small spoon to spoon it in.
You want a stable meringue, like the Swiss meringue we use, to make sure it holds it’s shape on top of the cupcake.
You didn’t dissolve the sugar over the double boiler for long enough and also didn’t whip it to stiff peaks in the stand mixer.
More Delicious Cake Recipes
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice about 4–6 lemons
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter if using salted butter, reduce salt by ⅛ teaspoon
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature (save egg whites for frosting)
- ½ cup granulated sugar white
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Cupcakes
- 1 ⅔ cups unbleached all-purpose flour 213 g (sifted after measuring (high altitude, use a higher protein flour such as King Arthur)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder reduce to 1 teaspoon for high altitude
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g) white or all-natural cane sugar (reduce to ¾ cup 150 g for high altitude)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest about 2 lemons
- ½ cup salted butter melted and cooled 10 minutes (if using unsalted butter, increase salt by ¼ tsp)
- ¼ cup neutral oil avocado or vegetable
- 2 large large eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice fresh squeezed, not bottled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt whole milk or Sour Cream, room temperature
- ¼ cup whole milk room temp or warmed + 2 teaspoons high altitude
Fluffy Marshmallow Frosting
- 1 ¼ cups white granulated sugar
- 6 large egg whites room temperature (about ¾ cup)
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Make the Lemon Curd (skip if using storebought lemon curd)
- Use a non-reactive saucepan (stainless steel or nonstick). Avoid aluminum, cast iron, or copper.
- In the saucepan over medium heat, combine lemon juice, butter, and heavy cream. Heat just until the butter melts and the mixture is hot but not boiling. Remove from heat.½ cup fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and egg yolks until pale, thick, and smooth.2 large eggs, 2 large egg yolks, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Temper the eggs: Slowly whisk about ¼ cup of the hot lemon mixture into the egg mixture. Gradually whisk in a little more until combined.
- Pour everything back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides, until thick enough to coat a spoon and hold a line when swiped with your finger (5–8 minutes).
- Remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.
- Stir in kosher salt and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cover by pressing a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface of the curd and refrigerate until completely chilled.
Make the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190° C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan.
- In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.1 ⅔ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- In your mixer bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Mix on medium-low speed until fragrant and the mixture looks like wet sand.1 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
- Add cooled melted butter and oil to the lemon sugar and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. (2 minutes for cane sugar)½ cup salted butter, ¼ cup neutral oil
- Add the eggs and vanilla, then mix on medium for 60 seconds. Mix in lemon juice (it might appear curdled after doing this, but it’s fine!), mix until combined.
- Mix in the Greek yogurt (or sour cream) until combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.½ cup Greek Yogurt whole milk
- With mixer on low, mix in ½ the dry ingredients until just combined, then add the warm milk (if you forgot to take it out of the fridge, warm in microwave for 7-15 seconds) and mix until just combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, mix for 10 seconds, then finish mixing with a whisk until smooth, but don’t overmix here!¼ cup whole milk
- Scoop (I like using a #16 cookie scoop) into the prepared muffin pan, filling the liners no more than ¾ full. You may get closer to 14 cupcakes. I typically bake any extra alongside in an oiled custard cup. But I had just enough for 12 cupcakes, filling pretty full.
- Bake at 375°F for 5 minutes, then reduce oven to 350°F (without opening the door) and bake an additional 15–17 minutes, until centers spring back and a toothpick comes out clean. Mine were ready at 20 minutes (total time)
- Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.
Make the Marshmallow Frosting
- In a heatproof bowl, whisk sugar and egg whites until combined.1 ¼ cups white granulated sugar, 6 large egg whites
- Set bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water (do not let bowl touch the water).
- Cook, whisking occasionally, until very hot to the touch and sugar is dissolved, 6–8 minutes. If you are worried about the egg whites being cooked, be sure to cook until they reach 160°F.
- Transfer mixture to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high for 6–8 minutes, until cool, fluffy, glossy, and thick like shaving cream. Don’t overwhip the frosting, stop when it's just like shaving cream.
- Add vanilla and salt; whip until combined. Use immediately.¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Assemble the Cupcakes:
- Use a cupcake corer or melon baller to remove the center of each cupcake, going about ⅔ of the way down.
- Fill centers with chilled lemon curd using a piping bag or teaspoon.
- Top with a generous scoop of marshmallow frosting.
- Use the back of a spoon firmly pushing down on the top of meringue and then pulling up to create swirls and peaks.
- Using a kitchen torch, torch the frosting until lightly golden, or place cupcakes under the broiler for 2–4 minutes, rotating often and watching closely. Leftover frosting may be enjoyed between graham crackers, or a spoon!
- Enjoy within 6 hours, or see storage tips below.
Notes
- Best enjoyed the same day.
- Store at room temperature (covered) for up to 6 hours.
- Refrigerate up to 2 days; meringue may weep slightly but flavor is unaffected.
- Bring to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
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