The Great Kiwi Bake Off contestant Monique Harris says the best piece of baking she did while on the TV show was nurture her bun in the oven!
The 35-year-old kept the pregnancy a secret while filming the TV show – because she and husband Jamie were worried something might go wrong.
“We hadn’t really anticipated getting pregnant,” the Pahiatua, Manawatu farmer’s wife says. “We’ve been trying for five years.
“We didn’t tell anybody because it was a bit of a miracle – we didn’t want to jinx it. We waited a good 14 weeks before we even told our parents. I was probably 20 weeks before a lot of people actually knew.”
The couple is due to have their baby literally any day now, with Monique on maternity leave from her job as an art teacher at the local college.
Baking has always been a way to alleviate stress, with the eldest of four siblings spending hours in the kitchen, often decorating cakes for friends and family. So it was a challenge for her to bake under the time pressure, while also feeling nauseous in the mornings.
“Baking is the go-between when it’s stressful on the farm or it’s stressful at work. But it was a bit different on the show. I’d have at least 45 minutes or an hour to decorate at home, but in the competition, I always ended up with around 20 minutes.
“Both sides of the family are huge bakers. Growing up, we always had really cool birthday cakes. My mum always had the biscuit tins filled. It wasn’t actually until she had time that she started getting into gateaux and wedding cakes.”
Monique loves not only baking but also cooking in general – and applied to be on The Great Kiwi Bake Off last year, but missed out by one place.
She was still keen when approached for this season and is already contemplating MasterChef when their child is a little older.
They haven’t chosen names yet and she suspects it might take a while. Monique jokes, “Jamie took weeks to decide on a name for a new farm dog.”
The Great Kiwi Bake Off screens 7.30pm Thursdays on TVNZ 1.
