Swiss meringue vanilla cupcakes

Makes 12-16 regular or 24 mini’s

Ingredients:

Vanilla cupcake

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 3 egg yolks
• ½ cup milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed. Increase speed to medium-low and add butter one tablespoons at a time, waiting until butter is almost completely incorporated before adding the next piece. Once all the butter is added, the texture will resemble coarse sand.
3. In a bowl, mix the egg, egg yolks, milk and vanilla. With the mixer running on low speed, add 2/3 of the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Once incorporated, pour in the remaining milk mixture, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds.
4. Using an ice cream scoop or ¼ cup, fill muffin liners 2/3 full. (if making mini’s use a 1/8 cup and bake for 10-15min) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

 Swiss meringue:

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cup castor sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tarter

Method:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt.
2. Bring a saucepan with a few inches of water to a simmer. Set the mixer bowl over the simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
3. Continuously, but gently, stir the mixture until the egg whites are very warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved, about 4 minutes. Test this by dipping a finger into the mixture and rubbing it between your fingers—the mixture should no longer have any grains of sugar in it and should be very warm to the touch
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the meringue on medium-low speed until foamy, about 2 minutes.
5. Gradually increase the speed and beat until you achieve a stiff peak that droops only slightly when you lift the whisk, and the bottom and sides of the bowl no longer feel warm to the touch, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and beat a few seconds to mix it in.
6. Swiss meringue is best when used immediately and served the same day. Do not refrigerated it in bulk or it will lose its lightness and become weepy.
7. Using a blow torch, scorch the meringue on top until nicely toasted or place in a very hot oven at about 250°C and blast bake for less than a minute.