Muffins were all the rage in the late 80s and 90s. We had been invited to set up a cafe in the Ian Athfield-designed Wellington City Library in 1992. Clark's Library Cafe was the first cafe in a library in New Zealand, and the librarians were nervous. But having lived in the UK and Europe, I was not the least bit concerned. If the Musée d'Orsay could do it, then why couldn't we?

We made 8 different flavours of muffins daily, and hundreds of different flavours — both sweet and savoury — over our tenure. We sold Clark's just before we opened Floriditas, and by then I was determined not to see another muffin on our counter, ever.

With suitable distance, I recently decided it was time to revisit muffins, spurred on by some small and somewhat less-than-perfect feijoas I had been given. I wanted a tender muffin that would carry the flavour of the feijoas in their last flush.

Last week, one of our lovely customers Jeremy, who had made my feijoa marmalade from a recent recipe, dropped off a jar of his wares, made with the excellent addition of lime, which is in season. Hence the addition of lime to these muffins.

Do try them. Julie

Julie's Feijoa & Lime Muffins

Makes 12 good sized muffins

  • 100g butter
  • 200g plain Greek yoghurt
  • 100g milk
  • 250g feijoa flesh
  • 1 egg
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • 250g all purpose flour
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 25g raw sugar, or demerara sugar
  1. Set your oven to 180°C fan, and either grease a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray, or line with paper cases.
  2. Scoop the flesh from the feijoas (you can freeze the skins to make a cordial or vinegar).
  3. Melt the butter and allow to cool a little.
  4. Mix the yoghurt, milk, egg and lime zest together until smooth.
  5. Add the feijoa flesh and butter to the wet mix, and combine well.
  6. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix well.
  7. Add the wet mix to the dry mix, and gently fold in until just combined.
  8. Scoop the mix evenly into muffin tins, and sprinkle with the raw sugar.
  9. Bake for 25–30 minutes, and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before cooling fully on a cooling rack.
"Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers, we more than gain in fruits." — Samuel Butler
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