Did I sign up for this too quickly??

In hindsight, it would have been sensible to wait to see what the final of this year's NZ's Hottest Home Baker had in store before making this my challenge! Fourteen mini baked goods in five hours... seriously?!

However, I have made progress on the muffins. Straying away from lemon and poppy seed (I know, really living dangerously now), I decided to get a bit innovative and produced blueberry, coconut and lime muffins with different fillings involving various concoctions of passionfruit curd, boysenberry jam and cream cheese. The curd and cream cheese was the standout winner in my view; Neil liked the jam filling but "would have preferred a more marbled effect" (yes, he actually said that).

Blueberry, coconut, lime and passionfruit curd muffins

More muffin perfecting to come (after all, I have heaps of buttermilk to use up!) but Dan had other ideas. Together we made some cut-out biscuits, which was so much fun, even if every second question is 'can I lick the bowl now?' which might explain his main motivation for baking. They turned out excellently. I almost took some in to Dan's pre-school to show them that I can make decent bikkies, as apparently Dan keeps telling the teachers that 'Mummy burnt the biscuits'. One time that happened!


My sous chef, Dan (3.5yrs); note the innovative use of the last of a lovely pinot! Note to self: must buy rolling pin.

And that's a thumbs up from D

I also thought I'd have a crack at pastry while I was in the zone. I did the cream cheese pastry I learned how to make at a cooking course I went to once. Rubbed a little rosemary into it and used it to make a chicken, leek and mushroom pie. It tasted great, but didn't cook very well on the sides and the bottom of the pie. Clearly more work to do on the pastry front...

 Last, but not least, I thought I'd try a new cupcake recipe. I'm not convinced and will need to try it a few more time I think. No complaints from the family on this. Until next time - TTFN!