Maker Feature - Lisa Hooper of Mybella Meringues

It is always a joy to see Petite Ingredient flowers atop stunning desserts. That's why this month we were delighted to chat to Lisa Hooper of Mybella Meringues - she even shared an amazing recipe with us! Read on to find out more  

Tell us about your story, how long have you been running Mybella Meringues, and how did you start?

Mybella Meringues has been running a little over 1 year as a business and prior to that I baked mainly for family and friends around Christmas time.  My background in various creative pursuits from graphic design to cake decorating and children’s parties eventually led me to making these colourful little treats. 

Your favourite cooking/baking ingredient, and why it’s your favourite:

I love using Lemon Myrtle. It’s a native Australian plant that has the most divine scent and flavour. It permeates the meringues so elegantly and cuts through the typical sweet, bland nature of meringue. I source my Lemon Myrtle from Peppermint ridge farm in Gippsland, Victoria (http://peppermintridgefarm.com.au)  It is aromatic, refreshing, and soothing with slight notes of citrus and a delicate sweetness and has amazing health benefits too. 

Your favourite Petite Ingredient flower, and why it’s your favourite:

Hmm, that is a hard one, they’re all so pretty. I definitely use the marigold petals a lot as they look stunning on the Lemon Myrtle, Honey and Macadamia Nut meringue twists. I also love the colourful cornflower petals and the pansies too. 

Name something you can’t live without:

My family! They do so much to support me. 

The best thing about your business?

I love that people genuinely get so delighted when they see the meringues all lined up. They make people happy.  Customers are also quite pleasantly surprised at the flavours and texture when they eat them. I think a lot of people misjudge meringue as being a hard, brittle, tasteless food, but ours a lot different and so much more than this.  

Lemon Myrtle & Macadamia Nut Meringue Twists. 

150 gms of egg white

300 gms of caster sugar

Squeeze lemon juice

1TBS lemon myrtle powder

Crushed Macadamia nuts

Petitie Ingredient Marigold petals. 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C, 
• Separate and measure out 150gms of egg white into a stainless steel or glass bowl. **Ensure the bowl and whisk attachment are clean of grease or dish detergent. 
• Use a squeeze of lemon and paper towel to clean the equipment prior to pouring the egg white. 
• Pour sugar onto a tray lined with baking paper and pop in the hot oven for roughly 6-7 minutes. Towards the end the edges may start to melt, you will need to take it out. Now turn oven back to 100 degrees C. 
• As soon as you start heating the sugar, slowly start the mixer on the lowest setting. I go up one setting at a time, each for 1 minute until the eggs whites are at stiff peaks. 
• When done and with the machine setting on high, gently add the hot sugar roughly 1 heaped dessert spoon at at time.  Let the mixture stay bold and fluffy, if you find it has deflated a bit and looks a bit runnier, let it whisk and build back up before adding more sugar. 
• When all sugar is added, scrape the sides and let it whisk on high for another 5 or so minutes until it is nice and thick, the sugar is dissolved and back at stiff peaks. 
• Use a large piping bag and any nozzle you fancy. We use Wiltons 2D for the twists. Use a large clean spatula to transfer the the mixture to the piping bag. With a circular motion and squeezing gently from the top of the bag, pipe out the twists. Make sure you use a non stick baking paper and room in between each one as they will expand slightly in the oven. 
• Sprinkle chopped macadamia nuts and marigold petals onto the meringue twists. 
• Put into the oven for 120 minutes. When done they will lift from the baking paper easily. 
• Pop a wooden spoon to keep the oven door ajar to let the heat out slowly and let them cool. 
• Keep in an airtight container or freeze. 

You can use a variety of ingredients, but many take trial and error to work out which ones will be ok in the mixture and which ones will collapse.