Lamingtons via WritingInTheKitchen.Com * @WritingintheKitchen

Lamingtons

When I first travelled to Australia in the late nineties, Sydney didn’t have as vibrant a food scene as it does today. But what it did have were new things for me to discover and fall in love with. I learned to love vegemite on buttered toast, and Tim Tams were obviously too gorgeous to resist. But my favourite discovery was the lamington.

It was an inspired idea; take a humble sponge cake and elevate it to new heights using cocoa, icing sugar, and desiccated coconut. According to Wikipedia, the lamington is named for Lord Wellington who served as governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. There is nothing there, however, about who exactly came up with it. Whoever it was, I would like to bestow the title of ‘cake genius’ on them; it’s an honour that is richly deserved, in my opinion.

Recipe: Awanthi Vardaraj @ Writing in the Kitchen

Photographs: Awanthi Vardaraj

Ingredients:

For the cake:

125 grams butter

185 grams caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs

1 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1 cup plain flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

125 millilitres milk

For the chocolate icing:

590 grams icing sugar, sifted

3.5 tablespoons cocoa

6-8 tablespoons warm water

Desiccated coconut for rolling

Method:

For the cake:

1) Preheat the oven to 180C. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat in. Combine the flours and the baking powder and fold in alternately with milk.

2) Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined square cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until cooked. Let cool slightly before turning out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool.

For the icing:

1) Combine the icing sugar and cocoa in a large bowl and slowly add the water, mixing as you add it. It should be quite a smooth consistency.

2) Cut the cake into squares (after completely cooled) and dip the cake into the icing using two forks to hold it gently. Then toss the dipped cake square in coconut. Set aside until they are all done.

3) Allow to set (for half an hour) before serving.

Awanthi’s Notes:

1) All too often I’ve heard people complain that they don’t have self-raising flour. If you’ve run out of it, don’t panic. Simply add 1 teaspoon of baking powder for every 100 grams of plain flour to ‘make’ your own self-raising flour.

2) I set the dipped cake pieces (before tossing in coconut) aside for a few seconds while I dipped others; this was just a way for me to do more at one go. If it works for you, feel free to use this ‘cheat’.

3) Make sure to use large enough bowls for the chocolate icing and the coconut so that you can dip and toss with ease!

Enjoy these! Let me know if you make them and how much you loved them!

10 Comments

  • A Hint Of Spice 7th August 2012 at 7:59 pm

    These are the best lamingtons ever!

    Reply
  • Sunny Lemon Cake | Epicurean Pleasures of a Self-Confessed Sybarite 22nd August 2012 at 3:03 pm

    […] 1) For my tips on how to use ordinary flour instead of self-raising flour, read my post here. […]

    Reply
  • thehungrymum 9th November 2012 at 8:35 am

    I reckon lamingtons are my fav cake! I almost never buy a cake from a bakery but if I do it is a lamington. Yours look perfect! I heard the concept originated when the cook for Lord Wellington, faced with impromptu guests and nothing to serve with tea, ‘recycled’ a day old sponge and created this divine morsel. Genius indeed 🙂

    Reply
  • shalmika 16th November 2012 at 12:55 am

    Hey Awanthi, great to see a fellow chennaite foodie blog about cakes & bakes. I have always wanted to bake lamingtons but i don’t take egg so i use flax seed meal to replace egg in my brownies & stuff, how much quantity do you reckon i should put in this?! Or is there any other easy replacement for eggs?!
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Awanthi @ Sybaritic Pleasures 20th November 2012 at 10:46 pm

      Hi Shalmika!

      First of all, I’m so sorry about the late response. I’ve been locked out of WordPress and my blog for a few days. It’s been driving me crazy!

      Secondly, there are a lot of easy replacements for eggs. Some of my favourites below (per egg):

      1 tsp baking powder + 1 1/2 TBS water + 1 1/2 TBS oil

      1 tsp baking powder + 1 TBS water + 1 TBS apple cider vinegar

      2 TBS water or milk + 2 TBS flour + 1/2 TBS butter + 1/2 tsp baking powder

      1 TBS apple cider vinegar + 1 tsp baking soda

      2 TBS lemon juice + 1 tsp baking soda

      1 tsp yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water

      1/2 banana, mashed (medium size) + 1/4 tsp baking powder

      Flax Seed Mixture:
      *equivalent for 1 egg
      1 TBS flax seed (ground)
      3 TBS water
      Method #1: Simmer together on top of stove for about 5 minutes until the consistency reaches a thick, egg-white like consistency.
      Method #2: Blend ingredients together in a blender or food processor until the mixture is thick and creamy. Refrigerate before using.

      Source: http://tipnut.com/egg-substitutes/

      Reply
  • Sunny Lemon Cake | The Writing Cook 25th March 2013 at 7:09 pm

    […] 1) For my tips on how to use ordinary flour instead of self-raising flour, read my post here. […]

    Reply
  • boom beach hack 10th November 2015 at 7:16 pm

    Keep on writing, great job!

    Reply
  • Not THAT Good. – Awanthi Vardaraj 19th June 2016 at 8:02 pm

    […] sweet treats I make, and am regularly accused of tempting my friends down sweet-filled pathways. My photographs of my lamingtons caused _three_ of my friends to go out and buy them so they could get their fix right away. I love […]

    Reply
  • Not THAT Good. – Writing In The Kitchen 7th February 2018 at 1:19 pm

    […] sweet treats I make, and am regularly accused of tempting my friends down sweet-filled pathways. My photographs of my lamingtons caused _three_ of my friends to go out and buy them so they could get their fix right away. I love […]

    Reply

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