Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Line a 12-hole bun tin with paper cases.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Sift in half the gluten free self raising flour and pour in half the egg. Mix.
• Add the remaining egg and flour, and the vanilla essence. Mix.
• Spoon mixture evenly into the bun cases.
• Place into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
• Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

For the lemon curd

• Put the lemon zest, juice, sugar and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted.
• Using a small whisk or a fork, stir in the beaten egg. Keep gently whisking the mixture over the heat for around 10 mins until thickened like custard.
• Pour the curd through a sieve into a clean jug to remove the zest, then cover with cling film and set aside to cool.

For the meringue

• To make the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff.
• Gradually add the sugar as you continue whisking on full speed, until you have a stiff glossy mixture.

To assemble

• Fill the cooled lemon curd into a piping bag.
• Using a piping nozzel, pipe approx. 1 tbsp of lemon curd into each cupcake.
• Pipe a swirl of meringue on top of each cupcake.
• Use a chef’s blowtorch to brown the meringues or slide them under the grill until just golden brown.