Lamington is an Australian cake (some Australians shorten the name to “Lammo” or “Lammos”) made up of squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated with an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in dried coconut.
▶It is believed that Lamington is named after Lord Lamington, who served as governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901, or his wife, Lady Lamington.
▶▶Lord Lamington’s chef, Armand Galland, of French origin, was called on short notice to feed unexpected guests.
Using only the limited ingredients available, Galland cut some leftover vanilla French sponge cake, baked the day before, and dipped the slices in chocolate and coconut, which was not widely used in European cuisine but was known to Galland, whose wife was from Tahiti, where coconut was a common ingredient.
▶▶Originally without any filling, over time the common variant features a layer of cream or strawberry jam between two halves, or other fancy fillings like those Tokyo Lamington known thanks to Masterchef Australia.
⭐ ▶July 21 is #nationallamingtonday in Australia.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 10/12 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Australian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 7 oz butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 7 oz chocolate
- 0.5 oz butter
- 1/2 cup milk (or water)
- 1 jar strawberry jam
- 10.5 oz dried coconut
Tools
- 1 Baking pan square
Steps
For the batter:
sift the flour and baking powder.
Mix the room temperature butter with the sugar and vanilla, add the eggs.
Add half the flour and half the room temperature milk.
Mix, then add the remaining flour and milk.
Spread in a square baking pan (8×12 or 12×9 inches) and bake in a static oven at 350°F for 25 minutes.
Cut into 10/12 squares, slice them in half and fill with strawberry jam.
For the glaze:
cook the powdered sugar mixed with chocolate, butter, and milk (or water) in a double boiler.
Dip each square into the glaze and then roll in the coconut.
