Lamingtons have become an Australian icon. Every year I make them to share with my family and friends on Australia Day. Usually one of my children helps me do this. I also have happy childhood memories of making lamingtons with my mother. Sometimes we dipped them in jelly instead of chocolate.
It is thought that lamingtons were named after Lady Lamington, the wife of the Governor of Queensland at the time of Federation. The first recipes for lamingtons were published soon after this, in the early 1900s. Traditionally lamingtons were made with butter cake and not sponge cake as they sometimes are today.
Lamingtons were used as a popular fundraiser through lamington drives in the past. I do wonder how many lamingtons were made and how much money was raised this way. Sadly today fundraising chocolates and doughnuts have taken their place.
Joyce Hyles, a member of the Bungendore Country Women's Association and prize-winning lamington-maker, has given me a few tips about icing and making lamingtons. I have passed these on for you in the recipe. She says an ideal lamington, for showing, should be 4cm square. Hyles freezes the cake before cutting it and making up the lamingtons.
Lamingtons are easy and fun to make. Read through the recipe before you start.
Lamingtons
T he easiest way to make lamingtons is to use cake that is frozen, although some people use cake that has been baked the day before. Fresh cake is crumbly and too hard to handle.
Foundation butter cake
This is a basic cake that can be used in many ways, not only for lamingtons. The cake can be flavoured as you wish with chocolate, coffee, lemon or orange. It could also be used to make cup cakes. The quantities given can easily be doubled.
125g butter, softened
34 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large free-range eggs
12 cup milk
1 12 cups self-raising flour, sifted
Use a 20cm-square cake tin to make 16 5cm-square lamingtons. Use an 18cm x 28cm cake tin to make 24 4cm-square lamingtons. Brush the tin with butter and line the base with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-forced). Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds before adding the next. Add the vanilla. Turn the mixer speed to low and gradually add in the flour and milk, or fold in by hand. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spreading evenly. Tap the tin gently on the bench to remove air pockets. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The cake will be ready when it shrinks away from the sides of the tin and is firm to touch in the middle. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to rest for about five minutes before turning out. Turn out on to a cake rack to cool. Freeze the cake if using it to make lamingtons.
Chocolate marble cake variation: Tip half the prepared cake batter into a separate bowl. Mix a tablespoon of cocoa with a little milk and fold into the batter in one of the bowls. Spoon blobs of each batter into the prepared tin. Run a spoon or spatula through and around the mixture to make a marble pattern. Don't mix it too much.
Coconut
Toasting the coconut for lamingtons adds a nice nutty taste. This can be done well ahead. Use 500g of desiccated coconut. Preheat the oven to 160C. Spread about half the coconut on to an oven tray and place in the oven. Watch closely as coconut burns easily. Stir it in from the edges every couple of minutes as it turns light brown. Mix with the rest of the coconut.
Chocolate icing
Have plenty of icing sugar and cocoa on hand, in case you need to make more icing. You could add some raspberry jam to the icing to taste.
30g butter
2 tbsp dutch cocoa
500g icing sugar
a few drops vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor. Switch it on for a minute to mix together. Pour the icing into a jug. Place the jug in a pan of hot water to keep the icing from thickening.
To make the lamingtons, take the cake out of the freezer, and cut it into 4cm or 5cm squares. If you want your lamingtons to be a perfect size and shape, measure and trim them as you cut. You could use a template for this. This would only be for show; homely-looking lamingtons are nice too and taste the same. Place the coconut in a shallow bowl or ice cream container. Quickly make the icing. Have everything you need set up on the bench before you start. You will need a carving fork (with long tines) for dipping, and a tray sprinkled with coconut for the finished lamingtons. With the fork pick up a square of cake and dip it in the icing. Drain for a moment and then gently toss in the coconut. Place on the tray to set. It is good to have a helper for this job, one person to dip and the other to toss the cakes in the coconut. If you are making a lot of lamingtons by yourself, set a cake rack over a tray next to the icing. Dip several squares of cake, one after the other and leave to drain on the rack. Then toss them in the coconut in the same order. Lamingtons keep for two or three days. They freeze well.
Fancy lamingtons: For fun and extra chocolate, make lamingtons with chocolate marble cake (see cake recipe). It's also nice to add a layer of raspberry jam. Cut the freshly made cake in half horizontally and spread one half with raspberry jam. Sandwich back together again and freeze before cutting into squares. I like to use toasted coconut to coat the fancy lamingtons.