There’s cake, then there’s cupcake, and then there’s . . . the lamington.
It’s a ‘I’m-making-such-a-mess’ delicious Aussie treat - a moist butter sponge dipped in chocolate and coated with coconut. You’ll find lamingtons in most of the bakeries and grocery shops in late January - for Australia Day. There are loads of recipes online and I’ve adapted mine from a number of sources.
My best tip is to make the cake a day before you want to eat (and maybe somewhat unwillingly, share) it. Cool the cake after baking and pop it into the freezer overnight. The next day, take it out and defrost a little - not all the way, and cut into squares. Trust me, when it’s just out of its frozen state, it will be much easier to handle in the chocolate dipping and coconut coating steps. A freshly cooked cake just crumbles into the chocolate and coconut and makes a giant mess! You’re welcome!!
Here’s my recipe...
butter sponge
ingredients
125 g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature
1 ¾ cups (260g) plain flour, sifted
3 ½ tsp baking powder
1/2 cup (125 ml) milk
butter sponge
method/instructions
Preheat oven to 180C (or fan forced 160C).
Sift flour and baking powder together.
Grease a 20 cm x 30 cm cake pan. Line with baking paper, leaving an overhang on all sides (to make it easy to remove).
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium high speed until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition so the batter is smooth, not curdled.
Add half the flour and gently fold to combine, then stir in half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Stand for 5 minutes, then use the overhang baking paper to lift the cake out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Freeze the cake overnight.
Take the cake out of the freezer and leave it out to defrost a little - maybe about 20 minutes.
Cut it into squares - you choose the size, you’re a grown up.
chocolate and coconut coating
ingredients
3 ⅔ cups icing sugar, sifted
200 g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup) milk, plus a little more
325 g dessicated coconut
icing
method/instructions
Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Add the icing sugar and whisk in the milk until you have a thick, but slightly runny, mixture. The icing needs to be thick enough to coat the cakes, but runny enough to only leave a light coating.
Leave the bowl over the pan on the stove over very low heat.
the messy coating stage
Place coconut in a shallow bowl.
Place a piece of cake in the icing and roll to coat using 2 forks. Transfer it into the coconut and quickly roll to coat all over in coconut. Transfer to tray.
Repeat with remaining sponges.
Stand for 1 to 2 hours, or until set.
Then serve and enjoy.
Or, cut squares in half and add jam. They’re delicious either way. I imagine, whipped cream would also be a tast addition!
