The “latest installation” to the family, Hazel, was just five weeks old when Lilly received a phone call from the producers. “Imagine, after having a baby, somebody rings you up and asks you to eat 12 coffee cakes. It’s every woman’s worst nightmare,” she laughs as she recalls how her attempts to cut the sugar out after her pregnancy failed miserably.

Keen bakers will know Lilly for her hugely successful blog Stuff I Make, Bake and Love, which has almost 15,000 views, after which she published two books, Make Bake Love and Dream Deli.

Lilly balances work and motherhood from her home near Cobh in Co Cork, for the most part using “really poor, patchy Wi-Fi” to get everything done. The Great Irish Bake Off set was a slight change of scenery.

“Hazel was 16 weeks old when we started filming. I had her on set with me the whole time and she was absolutely amazing – no trouble at all. It was a really good opportunity, with lots of like-minded people, so you could hardly call it work. I was delighted to take part,” she says.

Lilly was looking for natural ability, passion and flare in the bakers, and says that the standard of competition is very high.

“It can be stressful at times with the cameras in their faces, watching their every move. I love seeing the moments where, mentally, they’re at home in their own kitchens, and they’re confident. I’m looking for someone who has a natural flare for ingredients and how they use them, and matches different flavours. Some of the bakers were really confident in their tastes,” she says.

Growing up in a family of 10 in rural Cobh, everything in the Higgins household was homemade, and Lilly learned to bake from an early age. Her boys Cathal and Liam, aged two and three, are now busy in the kitchen too, making and baking from scratch.

“I think it’s very important to get kids baking. It’s good quality time and it’s interactive. Yes, it takes a bit longer, and dinner isn’t always on time, but they really enjoy it, and it keeps them away from the telly. They love making pizzas with the dough, and they make their dad eat them when he comes home. I see how they’re made, so I’m not eating them,” she laughs.

Besides baking, Lilly is interested in raw foods, and experiments with vegan and gluten-free recipes.

“I’m flexitarian, so I eat vegetarian most of the time, but I have meat and fish whenever I want, maybe once or twice a week. I couldn’t do vegan. We’ve such amazing dairy products and farmhouse cheeses here in Ireland, and really good meat.

“I play around with all the new food experiences in my own time, but baking is where my heart is. It’s a nostalgic part of me, and my childhood, and it’s what I’m most confident with,” she admits.

Lilly’s favourite thing to bake is gur cake, something her mother would always bake. She finally got her hands on the family recipe for the show’s Christmas special.

“She would make a big slab of it, and it would last about a week, using all the leftover breadcrumbs or cake, sultanas, and spices, and soak it all in tea. I kept asking Mam for the recipe; I knew there was something missing. She kept leaving out ingredients. At the last minute she was like: ‘Fine, you put lemon juice in the icing’,” she laughs.

Filming for series three is now over, so what can we expect?

“Well, we ate a lot of cake. I mean a lot of cake, and breads, and biscuits, and chocolate. A lot of the bakers get more and more confident as the weeks go by, and you can see it in their bakes. You’re under a lot of pressure, and you have no control over what your bake is going to look like when it comes out.

“It’s the luck of the draw sometimes, but week by week we were able to identify the ones with the most confidence and skill,” she says.

The winner will be crowned Ireland’s best amateur baker, opening up a world of opportunities.

“It’s like having your CV out in public. Viewers will get to know them, their history, their background in baking, and get to see their natural talent and flair, so that’s really good. The winner will be able to do anything he or she wants after this,” she says.

It’s back to normality now for Lilly, and she’s looking forward to spending more time with the kids and starting new ventures. “I’ve so many projects on hold. I want to do a third book, and get back into baking again. I broke my oven during filming; I sort of preheated it into oblivion!

“I got lots of inspiration and ideas after meeting these talented bakers, so I’m looking forward to what lies ahead,” she says.

Watch The Great Irish Bake Off on TV3 at 9pm every Sunday.