Lamingtons
My fellow Australians I’m sure can vouch for how enjoyable lamingtons were when we were kids and still are as adults. You’ll find these glorious cakes in bakeries, supermarkets or you can make your very own batch, which is what I’m sharing with you today.
There are 3 steps to create your lamingtons, baking the sponge cake, making the chocolate icing and coating your cakes and tossing them in the coconut. It’s time consuming but most really delicious recipes are 😉
The cake for this recipe is slightly different to other lamington recipes you may have seen. Many others are basic butter cakes in which you cream together the butter and sugar and add the dry ingredients. I wanted to contribute something different, more of a feathery light sponge cake which is perfect for lamingtons. For this cake you’ll be whipping whole eggs until frothy, then gradually add in the sugar, very reminiscent of a meringue.
My next lamington recipe will most definitely include jam, you know what I’m talking about, the luscious layer of jam in the middle of the cake – amazing! In the meantime, I hope you give this recipe a try! Enjoy, Sam x
Lamingtons
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 15 lamingtons 1x
Description
Homemade lamingtons are a childhood favourite and a classic sweet treat. A light butter cake coated in a rich chocolate icing and tossed in desiccated coconut.
Ingredients
Scale
- Sponge Cake
- 1 cup (150g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (30g) cornflour or arrowroot powder
- 1 1/2 tsp (9g) baking powder
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) raw or white caster sugar
- 40g unsalted butter, melted then slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup (125ml) milk, at room temperature
- Chocolate Icing
- 2 cups (300g) icing sugar/powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup (40g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 20g unsalted butter, melted
- 140ml boiling water
- Coconut Coating
- 2 cups (160g) desiccated coconut
Instructions
- Sponge Cake
- Preheat oven to 180ºC (356ºF). Grease a 7-inch x 11-inch (20cm x 30cm) rectangle baking tray with butter. Then line with baking paper, set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, cornflour (or arrowroot if using) and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attached, or a large mixing bowl using an electric hand beater, add room temperature eggs.
- Beat eggs on medium-high speed until light in colour and frothy, about 1 minute and 30 seconds.
- Gradually add sugar, 1/3 at a time, beating for a few seconds after each addition. Scraping down the sides if excess sugar is stuck to the sides.
- Continue to beat eggs on high speed for 6-7 minutes until mixture is thick. To test, lift up the whisk and let it fall back down in a figure 8 shape, the consistency should be that of a thick ribbon. It should hold it’s shape for a few seconds on top of the mixture, refer to above image for a visual.
- Whilst eggs are beating, go ahead and melt your butter in a small bowl then set aside to cool slightly before adding to the egg mixture.
- Once eggs are whipped, sift over half of the flour mixture, using a large metal spoon or spatula, gently fold the flour into the eggs, ensuring to keep as much air as possible in the mixture, fold until just combined.
- Sift over remaining flour and gently fold until well combined and no pockets of flour remain, ensuring not to over-mix/avoid deflating too much.
- Pour in melted butter and milk, gently fold until well combined, ensuring not to over-mix.
- Pour batter into lined pan. Smoothing it out in an even layer.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until the top springs back when lightly touched and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
- Remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, cut cake into 15 squares, refer to above image. Transfer cakes to a wire rack with a baking tray or a sheet of baking paper underneath to catch the drippings for when they’re iced.
- Chocolate Icing
- In a large mixing bowl, add icing sugar and cocoa, whisk until well combined.
- Pour in melted butter and boiling water, whisk until well combined and smooth with no pockets of icing sugar or cocoa remaining.
- Coconut Icing
- Pour coconut on a flat tray or in a shallow bowl and set it aside next to the chocolate icing.
- Assemble
- Working with one cake square at a time, place in chocolate icing. Use a fork to turn it over to coat completely. It doesn’t have to sit in the icing for long, just dunk and remove.
- Lift cake out of icing with the fork and allow excess icing to drip back into the bowl.
- Place cake in coconut and gently move around/toss to coat in the coconut. Remove with fork and place on the wire rack.
- Repeat with remaining cakes. Allow lamingtons to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or until they have set.
- Enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container, in a dark dry pantry for 3-4 days. Or refrigerate if room temperature is too warm and the icing will melt. To serve from refrigerator, sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before enjoying.
- Prep Time: 35min
- Cook Time: 20min
These were perfect. As an Australian living in North America the only way to fix my lamington craving was to make them myself. Loved the light sponge cake base, unlike the other recipes I found. These tasted so so good. Mine were not that pretty but they got better by the last few as I got a knack for it. They also tasted better the next day. Will be making again.
★★★★★
Hi Elaine, thanks for sharing your feedback! I’m so happy you got to enjoy lamingtons again, a nostalgic moment for you i’m sure! Yes absolutely, once you get the hang of the dipping and coating, the process fastens up Thanks for sharing and I hope you get to enjoy more of your favourite Aussie classics while living overseas! Sam 🙂