Lamingtons Recipe

Happy Indian Republic Day! Happy Australia Day! Yes, every 26th January we have double celebration. :-)

I made these beauties to celebrate 3 things together. A New Year (I know it’s too late but it’s still January, okay?), Australia day and Indian Republic day.
These Lamingtons, is a soft sponge cake of Australian origin in the shape of about 4 inch cubes, coated in a layer of chocolate icing then desiccated coconut. These delicious Lamingtons are sometimes served as two halves with a layer of cream or any fruit jam in between. Since we are not much into jam or jam filling cake so I used the chocolate icing instead.

I knew that making Lamingtons must be easy at home, but I didn’t expect they would come out such a nice and beautiful by all means. I hardly believe that I made them myself and equally or more better delicious than store bought ones. Boy, the sponge cake is SO good and soft that I ate all the left over that I cut off the sides. You can make the sponge cake ahead of time and coat the cubes into chocolate icing later. Next time, I’ll make the sponge cake 2-3 days ahead to save my energy. The entire process is bit time consuming but I assure you the end result will be surprised you!

Lamingtons Recipe

Adapted from: David Labovitz

[Makes about 12-13 pieces]

I’ve adjusted all ingredients as per my measurement. If you want to go with original recipe go ahead with David’s instructions.

For the sponge cake:
5 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup (100gm) white sugar
⅛ tsp of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (136 g) cake flour, first sift then measure
about ¼ cup (2 oz/50 g) melted unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the chocolate icing:
approx.150 gm bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
30 g unsalted butter
½ cup whole milk
1 cup powdered/icing sugar (adjust less or more)
1 tablespoon heap unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1.5 tablespoon boiling water
about 2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut, fine variety

How to:

1. For baking sponge cake, you can use your 8×8 or 9×9 inch square glass dish or square bake ware. I used mine, 12×8 inch rectangle lamington dish. Butter your desired cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or hand held mixer whip the eggs and granulated sugar and salt on high speed for about 7-8 minutes, until thick and the batter is become light and fluffy. Almost triple in volume. Stir in the vanilla.

3. Please sift the flour first and then measure. There is a great different between sifted and unsifted measurement. Add the sifted flour little by little and fold very gently using whisk.

4. Finally, fold in the melted butter until it’s incorporate into mixture very well, be careful not to overfold.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Prior to putting the pan in the oven pick your pan up and let them fall on the counter, very gently. This will force the bubbles out of your batter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Mine was done in flat 20 minutes. If you’re using 8×8 or 9×9 inch square pan it will take few more minutes. Please keep an eye or it will burn out.

6. Remove from the oven and let it cool about 10 mins. Lift up the cake with two side of parchment paper and cool on wire rack completely.

7. Remove the sponge cake onto a cutting board and discard the parchment paper. Trim the ends and cut the cake in half using a serrated bread knife.

Chocolate Icing:

1. When your cake is completely cooled down make the chocolate icing. Melt together the chocolate, butter, and milk in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. It will take about 5 minutes or so to become smooth and velvety. Remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water. Then whisk in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

2. Pour a generous ⅓ cup or more of the chocolate icing over one layer of the sponge cake, then top with the other half of the sponge cake, sandwiching the two together with chocolate icing in the middle.

3. Cut the cakes into 12 equal squares. Now, whisk 1.5 tablespoons of boiling water into the icing. You’ll notice the icing is become more smoother and silky. Magic touch of boiling water! Keep the desiccated coconut into a shallow & wide bowl or plate.

4. Now, the dirty part is coming. I used my hands. But you can use fork or chopstick to dip the Lamingtons into the chocolate icing, rolling them around to make sure each side is coated with the chocolate icing, then wipe off any excess on the side of the bowl. Place the Lamingtons in the bowl of coconut, tossing them around gently to get them coated really well on all sides.Place the Lamingtons on a wire cooling rack and let stand until the icing firms up a bit.

I don’t suggest to refrigerate them as the layer of coconut makes them bit dry. It tastes best when it’s room temperature. Use within 3-4 days.