My baby boy, my Huckleberry Finn turned 6 months old today. Wiggle as I sometimes like to affectionately call him has reached a momentous milestone. An age worth celebrating because that's a big achievement for both baby and parents.

Life has been a whirlwind since Finn entered our lives 6 months ago. Life has changed irrevocably. Everything has been new & foreign from changing nappies, to bathing a tiny human, breastfeeding and burping (because babies get a lot of wind). But 6 months on and we are old hands at these tasks. Now that Finn is old enough for solids, it's a whole new phase we are going through again. There have been ups and downs. Plenty of emotional, mental and physical strains. Parenting is hard, you are sleep deprived everyday and feeling like a zombie starts to feel normal. But I couldn't imagine life without Finn and he has changed our life for the better.

Motherhood & has kept me very busy lately. Sleep deprivation, early mornings and late nights has meant I have had very little time to myself, as I adjust to my new life. I have learnt to multi-task even better than I did before, and domestic chores have become less important. But last weekend, I managed to find time to spend some time in the kitchen baking. It felt great to have a couple of hours to myself doing what I love.

With rhubarb season upon us, I've been making good use of rhubarb season at the moment. So far I've made rhubarb jam, rhubarb syrup to mix with drinks and last weekend I made my version of a bakewell cake with rhubarb and blossom orange.

Spring is finally in the air. Daffodils made their brief but bright appearance last month. The parks and gardens are blanketed in a purple carpet of bluebells. Cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

It's a time of new beginnings and the timing is very fitting as I welcomed my new bundle of baby joy and love into the world. I have spent the last month adjusting to my new hectic life in motherhood. You can understand why it's been a little quiet here of late.

I did find the time to bake this birthday cake for my husband. Not quite as grand as this cake I made for him last year but still delicious.

I feel so happy to say goodbye to Winter and welcome the arrival of Spring with open arms. It's been a while since my last post but I have good reasons for it. We bought our first home in London. I'm still getting used to the idea that we are home owners. Our spare time has been preoccupied with decorating, moving, unpacking and buying furniture and home accessories. All this has been taking place whilst I'm in my third trimester of my pregnancy.

I have also been busy with other projects.

I recently received a surprise in the post. A sweet and lovely new recipe book called Love, Aimee X, which features 50 creative baking recipes by Aimee of blog Twigg Studios. I have been following Aimee on Instagram for some time and I'm a huge fan of her beautiful posts and baking recipes like this Chocolate & Matcha Mille Feuille she kindly contributed to the blog.

After browsing through her book, I was inspired to make this orange and rosewater tea cake that I adapted from one the recipes in the book. With hints of orange blossom and rose water, one bite and it will transport you to an exotic location. It pairs perfectly with a cup of mint tea.

Congratulations Aimee, this book is well deserved.

It was Australia Day on the 26th January and it made me fondly miss my home country. It is peak summer over there and the weather was hot. I thought of what I would be doing if I was home. There would be a visit to the beach and lots of ice-cream eaten. Perhaps a visit to the harbour to watch the yacht parade. A gathering of friends and family would take place that would involve a bountiful, summer feast. It made me incredibly sentimental.

To honour this day, I made this Lamington Pavlova. A hybrid of 2 quintessential Australian desserts. A simple cocoa infused meringue recipe that is layered and topped with lamington flavours. Delicious and just what I needed.

To all my fellow Australian friends – hope you had a great day!

I have to admit that I feel like I have lapsed with the regularity of my posts on this blog of late. I was recently away in Ibiza acting as chief bridesmaid for a wedding and prior to that, well the other major news in my life is that I’m pregnant. So there is my excuse. I'm currently 4 months pregnant and life has already begun to change dramatically. No matter how much you research and read about what to expect with pregnancy, you are never quite prepared for what you start to feel changing within you, emotionally, mentally and physically. The tiredness and fatigue has hit me hard resulting in a less active me. I’m learning to listen to body, and allowing myself to slow down and rest without guilt. Perhaps with winter looming, it is the best time to take it easy and spend more time at home.

I recently acquired this – an ice cream maker. I know what you must be thinking. It’s the end of summer. But you can have ice cream at any time of the year right? I don’t know why it took me so long to buy one but I finally did it. I spent all summer pawning over pages of ice cream inspiration on Pinterest. I have ice cream envy every time I see photos of this . If anyone knows of a place that serves this in London, please feel free to share it’s location.

I can't resist buying seasonal fruits like these white currants I recently spotted at my local farmers market. It is rare to see these so I bought them with no idea with what to make with them. There were a few suggestions from my friends on Instagram like a cheesecake. After a quick Pinterest inspiration session, I went for this light and summery dessert of vanilla creme pots. The tartness of the white currants teamed well with the raspberries. How beautiful is the colour?

After my recent trip away, it's feels good to be home again and back into a routine. Although I love travelling, after a while I miss routine, simple home possessions, and mostly cooking in the comfort of my own kitchen. Especially when I can create desserts like these.

If you’ve seen me on Instagram you would see that I was recently road tripping around Cork and Kerry in Ireland. Although the campervan we had was tiny and cosy, the freedom we had more than made up for it. Seven days of freedom, going at our own pace and bunking down wherever we felt like it for the night. If you’ve had the privilege to visit the emerald isle, you will know how beautiful, rustic and green it is here. I’m always blown away by how green the landscape is. We had sunshine and a tonne of rain and wind. But it wouldn’t be an Irish holiday without a bit of rain. I'll share more photos of this trip soon.

This week, I want to share this very simple meringue combination I rustled up before I went away. It’s basically a plain meringue with a dollop of whip cream with lychees and passionfruit. A light, summery and tropical combination that is perfect to end a meal. It couldn’t be easier.

I should be posting an ice popsicle recipe since it is officially ice-popsicle week. I'm sharing this granita recipe instead. Icy, cold and sweet. It's close enough to an ice-popsicle and a refreshing treat for those hot summer days. I used some of this elderflower citrus cordial I made a few weeks earlier. But you can check out these chocolate & cherry ice popsicles I made weeks earlier.

Anyone fancy a decadent, chocolate cake laced with whiskey? This does sound quite rich for this time of the year but if you were offered a slice of this, I'm sure you wouldn't say no, right? I have been meaning to add this cake to the blog and it has been on my "to do" list" for a couple of months. I finally found the time to bake it and share it. I first made for Mark for his big birthday back in April, and it was so well received that I wanted to share it.

I combined chocolate with whiskey because Mark has a weakness for both. You can leave the whiskey out entirely, if you wish. I made a much bigger version for his birthday and it was only when I presented the cake did I realise how enormous it was. It was only right that we shared it around the pub, as there was no way we could finish the entire cake. This version is smaller version but can easily feed a party of around 15 people.

Who could say no to a home-made ice popsicle, especially one made with cherry, chocolate and coconut. I had on my mind, a chocolate from my childhood and a favourite of mine. I can't begin to imagine how many of these I would have consumed during my childhood. When I have friends and family visit from Australia, I make sure they bring some over for me. In fact, it's a prerequisite.

With the summer season with us, I thought these popsicles would make a refreshing after dinner treat. I love the combination of cherry and chocolate, the perfect sweet and tangy match. Cherries are all over the markets at the moment. I find myself buying a kilo of them and devouring them within one sitting.

It's been a little quiet on this blog lately. Well, 2 weeks of radio silence since my last post here, which seems like such a long time ago to me. Last weekend was a rather busy one with a very big birthday celebration. It was Mark's big birthday and it was a long day of celebrating, drinking and eating into the early hours of Sunday morning. There would have been no other way to celebrate. It was such a lovely day spent with friends and family. A huge thank you to Mark's brothers who traveled from Dublin to London just for the night.

Can I also mention that I spent the night before the big day baking the biggest cake I have ever made? Even I surprised myself at how great turned out. It was 10 inches and 4 layers of chocolate whiskey cake. It was so good that I plan to remake a smaller version of it and share it here in the coming weeks.