Lamingtons

Morning tea with a few friends on Australia Day is surely the time for a lamington or two. Left plain they are quite delicious but I like them filled with cream and sometimes add some raspberry jam. I make them the day before so the cream has time to soften into the cake. 

Make your own cake or use a slab of commercial sponge. I have two techniques, one involves dipping the cakes and the rolling in coconut, the other is to partially ice the slab of cake and then cut the cake up and ice the sides. 

Here's How

Bake cake, trim off edges.

Make the glaze / icing.

Ice the top of the cake and sprinkle with coconut. Turn the cake over and repeat the process for the bottom of the cake.

Cut the cake into even sized pieces and then ice the remaining sides of each cake. Allow icing to set.

Optional but delicious - cut each lamington in half, spread some jam and cream on the base of each lamington and reassemble each cake. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Lamingtons

Cake 3 eggs 30 g butter, melted 1/2 cup castor sugar 1 cup SR flour 3 tablespoons hot water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing 2 cups icing sugar 3 tablespoons melted butter 3 tablespoons cocoa 5 tablespoons boiling water 2 cups coconut To serve whipped cream and raspberry jam

Cake

Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until mixture is thick.

Fold in SR flour

Pour in the melted butter and hot water and fold through the sponge mixture.

Spread the sponge mixture into a greased and lined lamington tin

Bake at 170 deg C until cooked and starting to shrink away from the edges of the tin. Approximately 30 -35 minutes.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool and leave for a few hours.

Icing and Finishing the Lamingtons.

Make icing by combining icing sugar, cocoa, hot water and melted butter in a heatproof bowl or small saucepan. Gently heat the icing until it has a smooth and ‘syrupy’ consistency. Use the microwave on medium for a minute or two or low heat on the stove top.

Trim edges of the cake.

Version 1

Place cake on a sheet of kitchen parchment on a board. Spread a layer of the chocolate glaze over the cake and sprinkle generously with coconut.

Turn the cake over by covering with another sheet of kitchen paper and flipping the cake and board over. Ice the base of the cake and sprinkle generously with coconut.

Cut the cake into even sized pieces, I usually make 20 small cakes by cutting the shortest side into four and the longest side into five.

Ice the cut edges of each cake and dip into the coconut.

Allow the icing to set.

Version 2

Cut the cake into even sized pieces, I usually make 20 small cakes by cutting the shortest side into four and the longest side into five.

Dip each cake in the chocolate glaze and then roll and coat with coconut.

To Serve (optional)

Split each cake in half. Spread a little jam on the base of the cake, top with a spoon of whipped cream and replace the top of the lamington