The Lamington cake is an Australian invention. It is a cubed shaped sponge filled with jam and then coated with chocolate and rolled in coconut. It is believed to have been named after Lord Hamilton who was the governor of Queensland in 1896.
Lamingtons are not difficult to make, however it can be quite fiddly and messy. Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not, as working with melted chocolate and shredded coconut is bound to be. Sticky chocolate, shredded coconut, a soft sponge and clumsy fingers is a mess just waiting to happen. However, there are things you can do to minimise the mess. First of all, the sponge cake has to be firm. I like to use the slab of ready made sponge which you can get from most supermarkets.
The one I use from Coles or Woolies is 500g and comes 2 in a pack, ready to fill and ice. While I have a great recipe for sponge which results in a light and airy cake, the store bought one which is denser, is better for this. The second thing is to use two forks one in each hand when coating the sponge with chocolate. I have used chopsticks ( I thought it would be neat) and I’ve used a pastry brush which was okay but it left bald patches.
My version of Lamington is coated in pastel tinted white chocolate . I used Pandan essence to colour the green ones and Ube essence for the purple ones. These essences are readily available from Asian shops but if you don’t really do a lot of Asian cooking, you can just use food colour like the brand Queens. There’s even a colour chart at the back of the packet to help you in working out the colours.
For the filling and to add more coconut flavour I used candied coconut strings called macapuno, again available from Asian shops. You could of course use jam, but I wanted a white filling to go with the pastel tints. The filling, be it jam or anything else, prevents the cakes from drying out. As mentioned earlier, the sponge cake I used is the Double Slab Sponge Cake available from Coles or Woolworths which has the right firmness. I cut it up into 12 squares, 5cm x 5 cm approximately.
Summer Lamingtons
12
servings30
minutesWhite Chocolate Summer Lamingtons
Ingredients
1 packet rectangular double slab sponge (500g) available from Coles and Woolworths or similar
1 cup cream
2x 180g white cooking chocolate
food colour, Pandan essence, ube essence optional
1 jar macapuno coconut string in syrup, substitute with any preferred jam
Desiccated shredded coconut or coconut flakes or combination
Directions
- The packet of sponge has 2 slabs. Fill one side of one slab with candied coconut or jam if you’re using jam. Put the other slab of cake on top of the jam making sure the sides are aligned and smooth side up. Use a ruler to portion sponge cake into squares or bars. Cut with a sharp serrated knife. Place in a container ,cover tightly and store in the fridge overnight or at least 2 hours.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just boiling.Remove from heat. Add the white chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to mix the cream and chocolate until smooth with no lumps.
- Divide chocolate into individual bowls by how many colours you are doing. If you are doing four colours, divide into 4 bowls. In each bowl, add food colour ( or essence if using ) drop by drop until you’re happy with the colour. Mix well. Take note that you are not able to take away the colour once you put it in so it’s better to add the colour drop by drop.
- Work with one colour at a time and start with the lightest in this case pale yellow, to the darkest. This will prevent colour transfer in the coconut.
- Place shredded coconut in a large plate. Line a baking pan with baking paper.
- Using two forks, coat the cubes of sponge with the tinted chocolate, let excess drip off to the bowl and transfer cake to the plate with coconut. Roll cake on the coconut making sure all sides are coated. Once coated with coconut transfer cake to the baking tin. Repeat for the remaining cubes of sponge. Repeat for all other colours.
- Cover baking pan with plastic wrap carefully and place in the fridge to set for about an hour. Use any leftover chocolate as ice cream topping.
Notes
- Pandan and Ube essence are available from Asian shops. Maybe substituted with any food colour. Use leftover chocolate as ice cream topping.
