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Monday, March 19, 2012

How to make Lamingtons.

Lamingtons are little coconut-covered sponge cakes invented in Australia and named after Baron Lamington, governor of Queensland between 1896 and 1901. Precisely what he did to deserve having a cake named after him remains unclear, but most people buy them in packs from the supermarket all over Oz, and then presumably use them for cleaning windscreens. The little pieces of coconut act as a handy abrasive for squashed flies, while the spongy consistency soaks up excess windscreen moisture. Also invaluable for those hard-to-clean saucepans. You can make Lamingtons yourself, using the following recipe.
4oz butter

8oz self raising flour

2 eggs

6oz sugar

4 fluid oz milk

1lb icing sugar

4 tbsp cocoa.

8oz coconut


Grease and line a 20x25cm tin, and preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Cream the butter and the sugar then beat in the eggs. Fold in the flour and the milk, and then scrape into the prepared tin. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden and leave to cool. Cut the cake into 12 portions.

Make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and cocoa powder, then mixing in between 6 and 8 tablespoons of boiling water and beating until smooth.

Now tip the coconut into a wide bowl, and the icing into another. Using two forks dip a piece of cake into the icing, turning it until it is completely covered; hold it above the bowl for a few moments to let all the excess icing drip off, then toss the coconut all over it. Leave it to dry on a wire rack, and repeat with all the other cake pieces.

You might want to have a couple of wire racks on standby for resting the cakes on while the excess icing drips off, because if the cakes are too wet when you try and roll them in the coconut it all turns into one horrible sticky nightmare… delicious with a Nice Cup Of Tea.