The name Delish Melish made my mouth water even before I knew what it produced, I just knew instinctively that I would I would like it and I was right. I was meeting with a couple who were having after our meeting with Derval of Delish Melish to discuss possibilities for their wedding favours and guests treats. I don’t know about you but I always feel that if food feels light when I eat it then it’s a treat to relish and the light and fluffy marshmallows and Meringues that Derval produces do not come any lighter. I had to restrain myself from nibbling on the samples in front of as I talked with Derval about these lovely products.
Derval, thanks so much for talking to me today. Tell people what you do.
So, Delish Melish creates all sorts of different gourmet flavoured marshmallows and meringues. When it comes to weddings, we do wedding favours as well as S’mores Bars, which is where we do toasted marshmallows sandwiched between handmade biscuits for perhaps the drinks reception or later on in the evening, say when the dance floor is being set up. We also do them set up on tiers for during the champagne reception.
The great thing about it is we make them all in-house, which means we can do them in a flavour or colour that matches any theme you might have. So if it’s your favourite cocktail, or if you want meringues matching the bridesmaids’ dresses or flowers, that’s something we can totally make happen. We do them in a variety of different venues for different events; we can travel anywhere. There are also various options for wedding favours – either packaged or loose.
Tell us the kind of favours people could choose from.
With the marshmallows it really is Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory – you can pick your flavours. Examples of some we’ve done before would be peanut butter and dark chocolate (which won us the Great Taste Award) strawberry and basil, Dingle gin and raspberry, passion fruit and coconut, rum and lime, lemon curd, Teeling’s whiskey, Malteser, Oreo… the list goes on.
Marshmallows can really take on boozy or more robust flavours, whereas meringues work better if you want to integrate colour into it. Some of the meringues flavours we have are rose and pistachio, lime, orange, coconut, almond, vanilla (which we can put loads of colour through), lavender, yeah, there are really diverse flavours to be had in both the meringues and the marshmallows.
So how do you label your stands or displays as to what the flavours are? Would people be aware there may be alcohol in them?
Depending on what couple wants, there can be a little sign beside it, and then all the allergen information would go out as well. That’s the great thing about marshmallows and meringues though, most of them are gluten and dairy free. So we can very much tailor-make those. It’s a great dessert table choice because so often with cake and whatever else you’re having, they might contain gluten and dairy so Delish Melish can provide a great option in that regard.
Walk us through the process for someone who wants to find out more about this, what do people need to come to you with prepared in their mind?
Best thing is just to drop me an email, or you can find me on all social media platforms. On Instagram, you can see loads of different photos of previous weddings to give you some ideas of what we can do. I work in quite a bespoke way for certain products, so you can see the creative process that’s involved and that really, anything can be created. So Instagram would be the first place to look and also Facebook. That’s important I think because it’s such a visual thing. People tend to say, “You can have flavoured marshmallows and meringues?” You kind of have to see it (and taste it of course) to go, “Oh yeah, that works!”
Then just drop me an email to say, “ I’m getting married, x amount of people, what can you do for me?” I’ll send you out a PDF of all the photos, information, prices and packaging options.
Quite often someone will say, “I’d actually love to do my own little labels,” so then they’ll send them in, and we’ll use them when we’re packaging up the products. We can very much include what you want in it, so the best point to start is to get in touch and get the conversation started. We create something for the bride and groom or for the guests, whatever it is that suits you.
What would be the absolute bare minimum time that you could do an order for a wedding with say a hundred guests? If they wanted a dessert, what kind of timeframe would people need to talk to you in?
It’ll really depend on what’s in the diary, but honestly, because it’s not like a cake, it’s not like the dress, it’s not the biggest thing on the list, people might only think about it a few weeks out – and that’s fine! A couple of weeks in advance, just get in touch, and whether you want it delivered or if you’d rather collect, we’re here, the kitchen is in Smithfield in Dublin 7, so it’s very easy to pick up from here as well. With the S’mores Bar you probably would have to book further in advance if you have a certain date in mind, but really there’s no cut-off period.
That’s great to know, that you don’t need a long lead-in or notice period.
No, because everyone has different priorities for weddings. It might be the case that you realise, “Oh well that other item didn’t cost as much as I thought, so now I’ve got a little bit extra to spend.”
Now for the fun part, can you tell me a bit more about what you offer for weddings?
A duo of Raspberry Flavoured Favours
Ok, well one of the simpler choices for favours would be our individually packaged option. Flavoured marshmallows, wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon to complement your wedding theme. We can add a little tag to that too, if you like.
Marshmallows in a Perspex box
Another option would be a different coloured meringue in a little Perspex box, tied with a ribbon, that can be left on the place setting for each guest. You can have your own message added on to the ribbon or as a tag on top as well.
One of the first weddings that I ever did was for a bride from Dublin, and the groom was from Kerry – the wedding was actually in Kerry. He was very into his football, so we did a blue meringue and a green and gold meringue, but some of the blue ones got smashed from the Kerry folks – healthy rivalry! Like that, you can have your favourite football colours or any other colours you prefer going through them.
In terms of the meringues, you can have them on a tiered display, which you can rent from your venue, a lot of places have them, and they’re usually very receptive to taking stuff in. I’ve never had an issue with a venue in that sense. We have so many different flavours to choose from, a lime one which is bright green, a chocolate orange one; we also do more unusual flavours like rose and pistachio.
The thing about the meringues is that they’re slow-cooked, so they’re hard on the outside but really soft and pillowy on the inside. You can stick to one colour throughout or you can also have a bit of both. So it really does depend on what you’d like.
Tiered Meringues and Marshmallows almost too good to eat.
The one I’m really intrigued about is the S’mores Bar; perhaps you could tell us S’more about that? (Sorry!)
Ah yes, the S’mores Bar, that’s where the magic happens. A S’more is basically a marshmallow, toasted with a little blowtorch and sandwiched between two handmade biscuits – everything is made in-house. They’re just lightly toasted, and it makes a lovely indulgent treat, great with a glass of champagne. We put the toasted marshmallow in between two biscuits and it literally just squishes and oozes out. It would then be on a little tray or within a napkin, and I can provide spoons and that kind of thing as well.
For the S’mores Bar, there are a few different options. I would bring an array of different flavours, depending on how many guests are there. If you have a certain thing in mind, you can choose your flavours- for example, raspberry, Malteser, Baileys and vanilla or if you want to go a bit more adventurous there’s strawberry and basil, passion fruit and coconut –the choice is yours.
Usually, people choose to have it at the drinks reception, so while you’re off getting photos done your guests can be getting their sugar high!
The Smore’s Bar – a firm favourite with guests
Your guests can choose from a biscuit option or an “on a stick” version. Quite often, the gents are happier to chomp down on a marshmallow sandwich whereas the ladies are in their finery, they don’t want to be getting crumbs, they don’t want to be getting too full too early, so the “on a stick” is a good option for that. They’re nice and light; you’re not going to fill up too much. It’s almost a canape kind of size.
We can bring them in jars or different coloured crates, depending on how many people are there and what kind of look you’re going for. If there’s a specific colour scheme, then we can try and tie into that, and can set up in different ways to suit you. The thing is that we bring everything and we take everything away. If I need to bring a table for you I can, but generally speaking, a venue is happy enough to provide that. It’s very quick and easy to set up as well.
Another option would be our Eton Mess bar. I haven’t done them at weddings yet, but they’re popular for corporate events. I bring all the meringues, as well as cream, fruit, and decorations to create a fresh dessert bar. There are so many different options of what we can do.
We’re talking weddings here but of course, it’s not just weddings, it’s pretty much any event that you can cater for?
Yes, definitely! I did a S’mores Bar at a Communion the other week. I also do a lot at Christmas for work events, office parties that kind of thing. We do meringue-making classes here in the kitchen, and we’re about to start marshmallow-making classes. There’s lots of different stuff going on; it’s not just weddings. I also provide fresh produce stores with their large meringues – you know, small businesses you do a bit of everything!
And you do cakes as well? Just tell us a little bit about the cakes, they’re divine!
They’re shortbread cakes, and I do them quite large, almost A4 size, in numbers and letters. Then I pipe marshmallow onto the shortbread biscuit, cut out the letters or numbers and I top them with fresh fruit and fresh flowers, decorated however you choose. They’re basically like a cake version of the marshmallow sandwiches.
I did one for my goddaughter who loves Oreos and raspberries, so it was raspberry marshmallows and Oreo marshmallows on top and Oreo biscuits and raspberries and then freeze-dried raspberries – you can definitely tailor-make them. I’ve also done a cross for a Confirmation. Again, the best thing is to go over to Facebook or Instagram, and you’ll see lots of photos for inspiration.
Thanks so much for talking to me today Derval. I’m going to find out about your workshops now, as I can’t wait to taste more!
If you’re looking for something different for your wedding dessert or you’d like some personalised marshmallow or meringue wedding favours, you can check out Derval’s fabulous creations here.
You can also take a look at her Facebook and Instagram pages to see lots of pictures of her fabulous creations.