I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! We had a lovely lunch with the family and I’ve had a nice relaxing few days working on my new portfolio site (stay tuned!) and writing down some goals for 2014. But wow, what a year it’s been, and boy, it seemed to fly by! 2013 has come with an enormous amount of big decisions, change and learning. I feel like a completely different person to this time last year. Spicyicecream turned six years old, can you believe it!? I have a few exciting plans for the next 12 months, so watch this space. I couldn’t let the year slip away without sharing some of my favourite posts of the year.

1) Passionfruit is one of my favourite flavours, especially when combined with chocolate. I loved these Passionfruit S’mores that use graham crackers and marshmallows completely made from scratch. Yum!

2) Figs are one of my favourite fruits, so I always love trying new desserts with them during their very short season. Eton Mess was popping up on restaurant menus all over Sydney last summer, so I put my own spin on it with a Fig & Salted Caramel Meringue Smash that combined so many great flavours in the one dessert.

3) I still have the photo of my Pandan Tres Leches Cake as the wallpaper on my phone, and it’s definitely one of my favourite creations of the year. The combination of pandan and coconut milk works so well, and I love the bright green colour.

4) This year I launched a monthly column called Simple Dinners and one of my favourites is this Lamb Stuffed Eggplant with Pomegranate. I still make it often, and it’s also become a favourite for some of my family and friends too. I love it when that happens!

5) One of the most popular posts of the year was my Blueberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast, which is a very decadent breakfast and seriously one of the most delicious things I made all year. Definitely give this one a try!

6) This Italian Ricotta Cake nearly didn’t get posted, because I had a kitchen disaster and burnt the hell out of it! But my Dad managed to rescue it and I’m so glad that he did, because it turned out to be such a delicious cake that I think will become one of our favourites.

7) I made this adorable Funfetti Fairy Bread Cake for my friend Steph’s birthday, which she absolutely loved. Not sure how I’m going to top this one for her next birthday, that’s for sure 🙂

8) One of the cutest desserts I made was Banana Split Blondies which turned out even more adorable than I could have imagined. I also made a video – which is something I’d love to do more of next year.

I also wanted to share some of my favourite travel posts of the year as well!

1) Penang in Malaysia was very special, and I wrote about it here and here. The food was just absolutely incredible, and was the city has such an interesting history. I also loved the street murals by Ernest Zacharevic. I also made a little video. Definitely want to go back!

2) Going to New York was one of the best things I’ve ever done. It was also the first time I’ve ever travelled overseas by myself, which was an eye opening experience. Check out the posts here and here. I still think about this city every single day, and really want to go back next year. I ate some truly amazing meals there. Roberta’s was one of my favourite meals of the entire year actually!

3) Visiting San Francisco with Denea was a lot of fun. A highlight was visiting the famous Tartine bakery, which has been on my bucket list for many years. There’s so much more to explore, so I hope I can go back again one day.

4) With only a few days to spend in Los Angeles, we decided to stay in Venice. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and great shops, restaurants and bars that we found along Abbot Kinney Boulevard. I have the second part of our LA eats to share next week, so stay tuned!

I also just want to say a sincere thank you!! to all of you wonderful readers. Your comments mean the world to me and I love sharing my crazy sugary creations and adventures with you all. Wishing you all the best for a wonderful 2014 and hope to see you back here soon x