Lamingtons

Lamingtons are typically made from square pieces of cake, approximately 4 cm in diameter, either sponge cake or butter cake and coated with chocolate and sprinkled with desiccated coconut.

They are most popular in Australia and New Zealand and were name after a Queensland Governor General called Lord Lamington who served from 1895 to 1901.

It is rumored that they were invented when one of Lord Lamington's chefs accidentally dropped a block of sponge cake into a dish of chocolate.

Some time later the addition of coconut was added and the recipe has remained intact ever since.

These days they can be found in practically every bakery and supermarket in Australia and New Zealand.

Apart from being eaten plain, they can also be cut in half or join 2 lamingtons together with either jam and or cream in the middle.

When making home made lamingtons one has the choice of either buying a slab of pre made sponge or butter cake and simply adding the chocolate coating and coconut or making everything from scratch.

In this lesson we are going to make everything starting with the butter cake.

Butter cake Ingredients
(1 cup = 250ml)
2 cups of self raising flour
1/2 cup of  butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1 and a 1/2 cups of milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

First put 1/2 a cup of butter into a large bowl.

next, ad 1/2 a cup of sugar

then ad 2 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

next, mix ingredients thoroughly with an electric mix master

next, ad 2 cup of self raising flour and mix ingredients

next ad 1 and a 1/2 cups of milk and mix again

ad a little more milk if the mixture is too dry or a little more flour if the mixture is too moist

next  pour the cake mixture into a non stick baking pan and spread evenly

then place into the oven and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for between 30 and 40 minutes or until cake is completely cooked through.

Periodic testing will help you know when the cake is ready.

By sticking a thin skewer into the cake, you can tell when it's ready when no mixture sticks to the skewer when you remove it from the cake.

When the skewer comes out of the cake clean, the cake is ready.

When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and take out of the baking tray.

Leave on a cooling tray to cool before handling.

When cake is cool enough to handle, cut down into pieces approximately 4cm in diameter.

However smaller or larger pieces are ok depending on your preference.

Now to make the chocolate coating.

First we pour 1 or 2 cups of coconut onto a plate, plastic bag or any other clean working surface.

Then pour 1/2 a cup of cornflour into a large bowl. Next ad approx 2 tablespoons of cocoa.

Next ad 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of sugar to the ingredients.

then ad 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of water and beat everything together with either a spoon or electric mixer.

Next pour the chocolate syrup into a frying pan and gently heat on a stove.

Remove any lumps that appear as the syrup  thickens and  solidifies. 

After heating the syrup, place back in the large bowl and mix one last time.

Then take the pieces of cut cake and simply dip them in the chocolate syrup. The cake pieces will absorb the chocolate.

Then roll the chocolate pieces of cake in the coconut. The coconut will stick to the chocolate and your lamington will be complete.

There are in fact many ways you can make the chocolate coating from the method we have used in this lesson.

You can use chocolate icing sugar or even using pure melted chocolate.

Experiment with different ingredients and methods to find the most delicious combination for you.

It all depends on what you like the best.

Top