Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I've always been a fan of lemon meringue pie, but it isn't very portable. So for a rooftop party at the beginning of summer...Lemon Meringue Cupcakes:

The base of these cupcakes is a hot milk cake, so it starts a bit differently than the usual cake batter, by whipping together eggs and sugar:

And then, once you've added flour and leavening, adding a mixture of warm milk and melted butter:

I cleaned the drops I spilled on my muffin tin with a damp paper towel and popped these into the oven for about 20 minutes:

While the cupcakes were baking, I made lemon curd. In addition to the lemon juice, sugar, egg and cornstarch, my lemon curd recipe has a hefty dose of lemon zest. It really adds to the tart flavor:

I then took the cooled cupcakes and cut a little cone out of the top of each, added a dollop of curd, and replaced the top. The top looks messy now, but the meringue will cover this, and also insulate the cake from further cooking while it is toasted:

Egg white and sugar and then whipped to stiff peaks...

Slathered on top, toasted in the oven, and eaten!