I have a really strong aversion to eggs in their raw or close-to raw state. Basically anything that resembles or tastes like egg (scrambled eggs, creme brulee, etc), is a no-go in my book. Even thinking of them makes me feel kind of green in the face. Why? Well, My mom (bless her heart) decided that our childhood would be bettered by plopping a raw egg yolk into our hot cereal every morning (gag). The damage was done, and to this day I still can hardly look at a bowl of hot cereal, or a carton of eggs without grimacing. Anyhow...all this is to explain why it was such a surprise when this Tuesday the idea of cupcakes made to look like little sunny side up eggs came to mind. I should have panicked and then rushed for a waste-bin...but I didn't. Maybe Easter has taken over my brain. In any case, today I'm happy to be able to share my Lemon-Blueberry Cupcakes with Egg-Free Lemon Curd and Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting with you (phew...say that 3 times quickly). Hooray!
So, going into this, I knew I wanted to create something that would use up some of my frozen blueberries from last year's epic Summer berry picking session, and decided to adapt this Lemon Cupcake recipe by My Baking Addiction. For my version I used the zest and juice from Meyer Lemons, and then folded in 1 cup of frozen blueberries (fresh would also work) into the batter at the very end. Of course I also made it gluten-free (using Carol's Gluten-free Flour and gluten-free vanilla). Then instead of a heavy frosting, I decided to lighten the whole thing up with this zesty Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting (I had to add a couple extra Tablespoons of sugar to my batch, and used Meyer Lemons instead of standard ones). Lastly, I topped the whole thing off with a dollop of egg-free lemon curd that I created (heavily adapted from this recipe). You could also use a traditional lemon curd recipe or even buy a jar of it at the store to save some time. If you really need the lemon color to pop you could also add in a drop of yellow food coloring, but I don't think it's essential.
To be honest, I think the lemon curd could have turned out a bit better texture-wise, but since I've never eaten the real deal I don't have anything to base it off of. The flavor was awesome, so if anything I might decrease the amount of cornstarch that I used so that the end result would be a bit thinner (the recipe here shows the reduced measurement).
Egg-free Meyer Lemon Curd
- 5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 6 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 6 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- pinch of salt
- (optional) 1/8 teaspoon pure lemon extract
Place butter into a small saucepan and melt on low heat. Meanwhile in a small bowl whisk cornstarch into milk until combined. Zest and juice lemons and set aside. When butter is melted, turn burner up to medium-high and slowly whisk in the milk/cornstarch mixture. Add granulated sugar to pan and stir to incorporate. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, pinch of salt and lemon extract to the pan and continue to mix until sauce comes to a light boil and sauce thickens. Cook for 3 minutes more and remove from heat. Cool completely and serve. Sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
My daughter and I ate these both warm from the oven with just the lemon curd, and yesterday topped in full fashion, and love them both ways...although warm from the oven got my daughter's vote. If you end up making these or your own version, I'd love to hear what you think about them. Enjoy! xo Ez
Prop notes: The cupcake liners are from Bake it Pretty, however I don't believe that they have the blue ones available anymore.
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