Today I stopped by at “Upplifun, bækur og blóm” which is located in Harpa, our largest concert hall here in Iceland. There I can usually hunt down some wonderful flowers that are hard to find elsewhere. Today I managed to find a bundle of peonies, and I LOVE peonies. And I LOVE the scented candles from Voluspa! Not only do they look wonderful but there are so many great scents and I just want to get them all. You can buy them online, but of course you can’t smell them there – you’ll just have to take my word for it. The scents I have at home now are Crisp Champagne and Makassar, Ebony and Peach.

While on the subject of things that I LOVE (besides the obvious, my children and my husband 🙂 ) I have to say that I LOVE the liqorice from Lakrids (and actually pretty much anything black liquorice flavoured). Yummy! When I go out for authentic gelato at Valdís (if you’re ever in Iceland, you MUST go there) I usually get the Danish liquorice. The other day I bought some powdered black liquorice from Lakrids and I’ve added that to some meringue – absolutely wonderful.

A recipe for liquorice meringue:

• 100g egg whites
• 200g sugar
• 1-2 tbsp powdered liquorice (to taste)

Method:

• First you have to make sure that the mixing bowl and whisk are free of all fat. The best thing to do is wash both in very hot, soapy water, rinse thoroughly and dry with a clean cloth. Some people like to wipe the bowl and whisk with lemon joice, as the acid dissolves any residual fat.
• Preheat the oven to 100°C (210°F).
• Fill a pot 1/3 with water and get it on the heat.
• Separate the egg whites from the yolks and put them into the mixing bowl along with the sugar and mix well. The bowl goes on top of the pot that should be close to boiling now, thus creating a double boiler.
• It is absolutely critical not to leave the bowl and stir continuously so that the eggs don’t curdle. Heat the mixture to about 65°C to 70°C (150°F) or until the sugar has completely dissolved. The best way to test for that is to rub a little bit of the mix between two fingers, that’s what I do instead of using a thermometer. If you can still feel the sugar, stir some more.
• When the mixture is ready, take the bowl to your stand mixer and whisk at medium speed for about 8 minutes. Now the meringue is ready, and all we have to do is add the powdered liquorice.
• Fold the powdered liquorice carefully into the meringue, spoon it into a piping bag and pipe some beautiful meringue drops.
• Bake for about 25 minutes or until you can easily move the meringue off the parchment paper.

Sweet regards, Nína.