How time flies . . .

. . . when you're having fun!

Last Friday we celebrated my Mum's birthday and then four days later, it's my turn in the spotlight.

Tuesday 3 May 2011 - nothing special, just another day on the calendar . . . but any excuse for cake!

It's a sad state of affairs though when your friends and family are busy doing other things and you're up til all hours of the night baking your own birthday cake for work tomorrow!

I have tried a new recipe - Little Lemon Meringue Cakes from a random promo cookbook I found in Mum's cupboard (I'm housesitting yet again so relishing in the opportunity to search through Mum's cookbooks. Not happy that she and Dad are away for my birthday though!).

Complete fluke but one of the best cupcake recipe bases I have ever used.

I do a mean meringue, if I do say so myself!

And having doubled the recipe, I had lots left over so made some mega sized ones for lunch tomorrow - will treat Jourdanne to dessert after our birthday lunch date.

So, now for the recipe . . .

Little Lemon Meringue Cakes

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

150g butter, softened

3 eggs, lightly beaten

4 Tbspn milk

juice and zest of 2 lemons

lemon curd (I cheated and used shop bought)

1.  Preheat oven to 175C. Prepare 12 paper cases.
2. Place first six ingredients listed above into a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Spoon mixture to 3/4 fill cases. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool
3. Once cold enough to handle, cut out a large cavity from the top of each cupcake and discard or eat (NB. This is where I went wrong - I started to eat the spoonfuls of cake I scooped out and sitting here at 11.55pm on my birthday eve, feeling severely ill!)
4. Fill cavity with lemon curd. Spoon or pipe small mounds of meringue on top of lemon curd. Bake for 10 minutes further to set meringue.

Meringue

2 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar 

1. Whisk eggs whites until soft.
2. Add 1 Tbspn sugar and whisk until incorporated. Whisk in remaining sugar until mixture is glossy.