Lemon Cupcakes with Truffle Meringue

Ingredients

Lemon Cupcakes:

• 1 1/4 cup cake flour

• 3/4 cups sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from one lemon)

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1/2 cup milk

• 3/4 cups TAO Olive Oil (e.g. Extra Virgin or Lemon Pressato)

Truffle Meringue Butter Cream:

• 1 1/3 cup butter, softened

• 4 large egg whites, room temperature

• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 1 cup sugar

• Pinch of salt

• Truffle salt

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/2-1 teaspoons TAO Black or White Truffle Oil

• 16 grams of black truffle

Directions

Lemon Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with baking cups.

2. Sift together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.

3. In a large bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest, pressing the oils from the zest into the sugar with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Add egg, olive oil, milk, and lemon juice, and whisk together (or use a hand blender on low speed) until well combined.

4. Add dry ingredients gradually while whisking or beating until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.

5. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake and then withdrawn comes out clean.

6. Let cool completely before frosting.

Truffle Meringue Butter Cream:

1. Mince the black truffle and combine it with the butter. Let it sit in the fridge for at least a day to infuse the truffle flavor into the butter. 

2. Before making the buttercream, remove the butter from the fridge to soften and come to room temperature. 

3. Whip the egg whites with a hand mixer on low speed until it takes on a foamy consistency, with evenly sized small bubbles throughout. 

4. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat, increasing the speed, until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. 

5. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar, salt, and water on medium-high heat, stirring gently, until it comes to 238F. 

6. Immediately turn on the mixer and pour the sugar syrup in a slow, steady stream down the side of the bowl into the egg whites, beating thoroughly, until the bowl is cool to the touch (3-5 min). 

7. Gradually add butter in small chunks, beating continuously. At some point, the mixture may look lumpy and curdled. This is okay–just keep beating until it pulls together again and becomes smooth. 

8. Add in truffle oil. 

9. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.