london

london

21 Jan 2026

I was 15 the first time I visited London and I've been a regular visitor ever since. It desn't seem to matter how many days I spend in London, there are so many things to see and do in the city, I never manage to achieve everything that's on my 'to do' list and this visit was no exception.

I look forward to my visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Courtauld Gallery, but I also look forward to exploring new places.

My first full day in London was hectic. I'd booked tickets to the Cartier Exhibition at the V&A, tickets to the theatre and I had a dinner reservation as well. There was no time to return home in between each event so I used my time to explore around the theatre district, Bloomsbury and the Strand.

I love exploring the building as much as I enjoy the exhibits.

In an attempt to maintain my one pastry per day regime I visited Fortitude Bakehouse in Bloomsbury.

It's located in a small street flanked by interesting old buildings and this pub, the Friend at Hand.

The bakery is known for it's beignets.

I don't 'do' fried food so I sought another option, this apple custard and crumble croissant tart.

I was too busy to eat it though and carried it around with me all day. The poor tart was a bit battered and bruised by the time I returned home that evening.

I was on a mission to locate the Post Building and walked around in circles before I eventually found the entry point. 

The Post Building has a roof garden with views over London. Compared to other viewing spots I've visited in London, it's very quiet and at times I had the place to myself.

I recognised the British Museum, the London Eye and the Shard.

The gardens were small but pleasant and a nice respite from the urban sprawl below.

A stand out feature was this view of the BT tower.

I had some time to kill before my matinee performance of Operation Mincemeat so I walked around Seven Dials.

I've been to Covent Gardens so many times but somehow I'd never made it to Seven Dials. I'd love to have photographed the monument properly but the base was obscured by a council truck.

Seven Dials was pretty busy with nice looking bars, shops and restaurants as well as ticky, tacky souvenir shops.

After my very long day in London, I was bolstered by a midnight snack of apple custard crumble tart. 

On my second day in London I visited Holland Park. Although I'd visited the Design Museum on a previous occasion, I'd not been into the park.

I'd heard about the Kyoto garden so I made a beeline there.

Holland Park was very picturesque decked out in it's autumn hues.

I also found manicured gardens, and a beautiful Orangery.

After my walk through the gardens I headed over to the Courtauld Gallery to see the Wayne Thibaud exhibition.

Somerset House is across the road from the beautiful St Martins-in-the-Fields and not too far from the Inner Temple Gardens where I was headed.

I passed by the very cute Temple Place Cabmen's Shelter on my way.

The prices at the cafe are unbelievably low for London.

I had no idea what to expect as I walked over to the Inner Temple Gardens. 

I was blown away by what I found, a hidden gem.

The gardens are only open for a few hours each day but I'm glad I made the effort, because I found them so beautiful. I stayed there for as long as I could enjoying the beautiful autumn light that filtered through the trees.

I certainly wasn't the only person enjoying the gardens. People were chatting, eating their lunch on the lawn or reading a book seated on one the many benches.

I photographed the gardens in both colour and black and white.

With great reluctance I dragged myself away because the gardens were about to close and my day was not over yet.

Not before admiring these still beautiful, past their prime hydrangeas.

I made a quick pilgrimage to Regent Street to visit Liberty of London.

They always have a beautiful display of flowers outside the front door by Wild at Heart Liberty. 

More hydrangeas on display, although these ones were certainly not past their prime.

It was getting close to the end of October so the Regent Street Christmas lights had been installed.

I came home to have dinner and to collapse into bed because I had another big day planned for Day 3 in London. I woke to grey skies and rain and the dreary skies were an omen because the day didn't exactly go to plan.

As the weather was so awful, I decided it was going to be a gallery day. I'd bookmarked both the Emily Kam Kngwarray and Lee Miller exhibitions and I couldn't decide which exhibition to visit. Both were being held at the Tate Gallery and as I was on the bus on the way to the Tate Modern, I bought a timed ticket to the Lee Miller Exhibition. 

The Tate Modern is an impressive building but unfortunately I'd gone to the wrong Tate gallery. The Lee Miller exhibition was at the Tate Britain and there was no way I was going to get there for 10.30 time slot. 

Reassured by the staff at the Tate Modern that I could still use the ticket, I walked across the Millennial Bridge to take some photos of St Paul's before I caught the bus to the Tate Britain.

It was a very cold, wet and miserable day.

I eventually made it to the correct gallery and I was allowed in albeit 2 hours late. Apparently people make the same mistake all the time.

The Lee Miller exhibition was crowded but it was comprehensive and well worth the cross London bus trip. I also refamiliarised myself with the Turners and Constables housed at Tate Britain.

After all this walking I needed sustenance so I made my way to the Alaia Cafe in New Bond Street.

Whilst in London, I did not want afternoon tea, a substantial meal containing food items I can't, won't or don't eat. I just wanted scones, jam and tea, known in the UK as a 'cream tea'. Finding a cream tea proved to be difficult but I discovered it was being served at the Violet Cakes Bakery at the Alaia Cafe.

The cafe was all very sleek and glamorous but after all my traipsing about in the rain I wasn't and felt I didn't quite match the surroundings.

Even the Christmas decorations looked a bit folorn.

On my last day in London, I arranged to meet an old friend in Hampstead for a walk followed by a spot of lunch. I did a bit of a ramble around Islington in the morning before I caught the train to Hampstead as it was close to where I was staying and to Angel Station. 

It's 10 years since my last visit to Islington to photograph Folklore, a long shuttered shop, for my Shopshoot series.

It was too early for shopping but as I roamed around Islington I found it as charming as I remembered.

I had my film camera with me.

Unfortunately it stopped working just after I took this photo of Carmela's Pizzeria and refused to work again until I took it to be repaired back home in Sydney.

I stumbled upon the lovely gardens of St Mary's Church.

They've been lovingly tended for well over a hundred years.

The gardens are located in the old burial grounds of St Mary's Church.

It was almost Halloween so there was a plethora of pumpkins at this fruit shop.

I kept walking to Angel tube where I caught the train to Hampstead. I arrived a little ahead of time so I wandered around the area before meeting my friend.

I walked past the famous Holly Bush pub.

And loved all the little details.

Yes this letter box does date from Queen Victoria's reign.

First stop on our walk was Fenton House.

Luck was on our side as it was the last day to view the gardens before they closed for winter. 

Entry to the gardens were free thanks to my friend's National Trust membership. I was officially her husband that day.

The gardens at the front of the house.

The orchard at the rear of the house.

We then walked over to the Heath

and back to Flask Walk.

After a delicious lunch I returned to Flask Walk to take a few more photos.

They do very good flower shops in Hampstead.

Then it was time to return home to pack for my journey to Zurich. 

I'll be back again next week for my final post from my 2025 trip.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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iced vovo cake

iced vovo cake

19 Jan 2026

Australia Day is just around the corner and although it might be a polarising public holiday, I use the day to celebrate Australian recipes. 

Apart from the Tim Tam,  I don't think there's a biscuit more Australian than the iced vovo biscuit. The iced vovo biscuit is a very plain biscuit topped with pink fondant icing, raspberry jam and desiccated coconut. I wasn't much of fan of the old iced vovo growing up. I only liked the raspberry jam portion and would peel it off and give the biscuit back to someone else to finish. A few years ago my friend Amanda gifted me a small iced vovo pin which now holds pride of place on my fridge. I guess Amanda must have been the recipient of a raspberry jam free iced vovo.

However when I saw a picture of this Iced VoVo Cake by Natalie Paull in the much missed now discontinued print version of Delicious magazine I was sold and knew I had to make it. The base is a classic butter cake flavoured with coconut, topped with raspberry flavoured frosting and some raspberry jam then coated in shredded coconut. I didn't make the raspberry jam from the recipe as I already had a small pot of homemade rhubarb and raspberry jam in the fridge.

The icing used to decorate the cake is a classic American style 7 minute frosting which is bright white. However the addition of freeze dried raspberries to the frosting turns it a kind of mauve colour. So if you want a bright white icing to match the picture shown in Delicious Magazine don't add the freeze dried raspberries but you will lose out on the flavour they impart.

Here's the recipe for you adapted from here which makes a small loaf cake. If you'd like to make a larger cake then refer to the original recipe. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Iced VoVo Cake – Natalie Paull
Ingredients
145g caster sugar
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature
25ml vegetable oil 
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 large egg at room temperature
1 large egg, separated, at room temperature
150g plain flour, sifted
¾ tsp baking powder, sifted
1/4 cup (22g) desiccated coconut
1/3 cup (80ml) coconut milk
Shredded coconut, to decorate

Raspberry jam
120g frozen raspberries
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
1 tbs lemon juice

Raspberry rose royal frosting
2 egg whites (1 reserved from cake)
3/4 cup (90g) pure icing sugar, sifted
10g freeze-dried raspberries, crushed
½ tsp rosewater or vanilla extract

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C conventional/150°C fan-forced. Grease base and sides of a small loaf pan and line with baking paper.

Add sugar, butter, oil, zest and vanilla to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 8 minutes, scraping side of bowl occasionally, or until mixture is fluffy. Combine the whole egg and egg yolk (reserving the egg whites for the frosting) in a bowl and gradually add to the mixture, beating until combined and fluffy.

Place flour, baking powder and a pinch of fine salt in a medium bowl. Add desiccated coconut and stir to combine.

Using a large spatula, fold in half the flour mixture until almost fully incorporated. Fold in half the coconut milk until almost fully incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and coconut milk until thoroughly combined. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove from pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, to make the jam, place all ingredients in a small heavy-based saucepan over high heat and boil rapidly, stirring frequently, for 6-8 minutes, until thickened. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until required.

For the icing, place the 2 egg whites, the icing sugar and ¼ tsp salt flakes in the bowl of a stand mixer placed over a saucepan of gently simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water). Using a whisk, stir the mixture until it's warm to touch. Place the bowl in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on high speed until mixture is fluffy and thick, 5-7 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, add berries and rosewater or vanilla and whisk until combined.

To assemble, place the cake on a serving platter. Cut a long 2.5 cm-wide strip of baking paper to sit lengthways along the top of the cake. Secure each end with toothpicks. Smooth the icing across the top (including over paper) and long sides of cake. Lift the cake up and over a large bowl, pick up handfuls of shredded coconut and press into top and sides, letting excess fall back into the bowl.

Place cake back on serving platter, peel away the paper strip to expose the strip of cake. Spoon jam over exposed strip (if jam is too thick, add 1 tsp of water to loosen it up). Smooth frosting onto short edges and dust with more shredded coconut. 

Slice as desired.

Any recipe from Natalie is guaranteed to be delicious and this iced vovo cake was no exception. Every element was delicious and when combined even better.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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