There are a few flavors that immediately take me back to summers as a kid. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n When I think about Creamsicles I think about sweet citrus, cool, icy-cream (that is an intentional spelling) and vanilla. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Inspiration: <\/span><\/strong>That got me thinking about ways to reimagine the highlights of those flavors in a baked good. Why not Creamsickle cupcakes? I found some things online, but nothing quite matched what I had in my imagination. So I worked out each of the components and refined them, trying a few different approaches, until I landed here.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Components:<\/span><\/strong> There are three separate elements; the vanilla cupcake, an orange curd filling and a cooked meringue icing. The cupcakes and custard can easily be done ahead and stored for a day or two if you don’t want tackle everything at one time. The cooked meringue will keep for a day or two, as well, in the fridge but loses its sheen and some of its elasticity. A solid cheat is using a store-bought curd – lemon is readily available. But it won’t be the same (I assure you). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Construction:<\/span><\/strong> Filling the cupcake isn’t a mystery, really. Although I’ve seen many a handy baker pipe filling into pastries and cakes, I’ve never been successful getting enough filling-to-cake ratio that way. There just isn’t enough pressure to displace enough volume in the cake.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/wow-image><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n