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Cherry Lamingtons

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 For the May challenge Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina dared us to make Lamingtons. An Australian delicacy that is as tasty as it is elegant

Jam lamingtons - squares of vanilla sponge cake filled with cherry jam, coated in chocolate and coconut - Domestic GothessThis was the first time I had ever tried a lamington, I had heard of them of course, but never thought to try making them. Which is one reason why I enjoy being part of the Daring Bakers – it encourages me to try things that I wouldn’t think to (or have heard of) on my own, most of which I end up loving. For those of you who haven’t heard of lamingtons, they are a very popular Australian treat consisting of squares of vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut, sometimes with a jam filling.

Cherry lamingtons - squares of vanilla sponge cake filled with jam and coated in chocolate and desiccated coconut - Domestic GothessI adapted the recipe from the fabulous Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard, Dan is Australian so surely knows how to make a good lamington! The sponge cake is moist and fluffy, but is also sturdy enough to slice neatly, and to dip and roll without crumbling; it is even easier to slice cleanly if you bake the cake the day beforehand. The chocolate coating is a simple mixture of cocoa powder, icing sugar, boiling water and chocolate (any leftovers make good milkshakes…) and I opted to fill mine with some good quality cherry jam, which went perfectly with the chocolate and coconut. I was originally planning on making coffee caramel ones, but Damian turned his nose up at that idea (he’s not much of a coffee fan), though I definitely intend to make them at some point!

Lamingtons - cubes of vanilla sponge cake filled with jam and coated in chocolate and coconut - Domestic GothessI used a 20cm/8in square tin, which yielded 16 fairly large (about 5cm/2in square) lamingtons; to make slightly smaller ones, use a 23cm/9in square tin and cut into 20 pieces. You can fill them with any kind of jam you like, or use dulce de leche, salted caramel or chocolate ganache; or simply leave them plain, all would be delicious.

Cherry lamingtons - vanilla sponge filled with jam and coated in chocolate and coconut - Domestic Gothess

Jam lamingtons - squares of vanilla sponge cake filled with cherry jam, coated in chocolate and coconut - Domestic Gothess
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Cherry Lamingtons

Servings 16 -20
Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Cake

  • 3 large eggs separated
  • 220 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 100 g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 300 g (2 + 1/2 cups) plain flour
  • 4 tbsp cornflour cornstarch
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 230 ml (scant 1 cup) milk

Filling and topping

  • about 150g (5 oz) cherry conserve (or jam of your choice)
  • 6 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 180 g (1 + 3/4 cups) icing (powdered) sugar
  • 180 ml (3/4 cup) boiling water
  • 50 g (1 + 3/4 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
  • about 200g (7 oz) desiccated coconut

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and line the base and sides of a deep 20-23 cm square tin with baking parchment.
  2. In a spotlessly clean bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites with 75g (one third) of the sugar until soft peaks form. In another bowl, again with the mixer, beat the remaining 145g sugar with the butter, egg yolks and vanilla extract for about 3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
  3. Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder together then gradually beat it in to the butter and egg yolk mixture, alternating with the milk, until smooth.
  4. Beat one third of the meringue into the batter to loosen it, then carefully fold in the remaining meringue until fully incorporated, do not overmix.
  5. Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45-55 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
  6. Leave to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and leave until completely cold.
  7. Once the cake is cold, use a sharp serrated knife to level the top and trim the edges so that they are straight. Slice the cake into 16-20 evenly sized squares.
  8. Slice each square in half and sandwich the two halves back together with a dollop of jam.
  9. Whisk together the cocoa powder, icing sugar and boiling water in a large bowl, whisk in the chocolate until melted and smooth, set aside until cold. Place the coconut in a shallow dish.
  10. One at a time, dip each square in the chocolate mixture, making sure that it is completely coated, use a couple of forks to help you turn it, then roll it in the desiccated coconut until all sides are covered.
  11. Place the finished lamingtons on a wire rack and leave for a couple of hours until set.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard

Jam lamingtons - cubes of vanilla sponge cake filled with jam & coated in chocolate & coconut - Domestic GothessI am sharing these with Cook Blog Share hosted by Supergolden Bakes and Patisserie Makes Perfect, Totally Talented Tuesdays, Create Link Inspire, Fabulous Foodie Fridays, Foodie Fridiy, Fiesta Friday, Foodie Friends Friday and Friday Favourites
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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Thanks Julie 🙂 I really enjoyed them, I’ll definitely be making them again and trying out some different flavour combinations!

      Reply

    • Thank you! They do make a lot of mess though…my kitchen ended up covered in a layer of coconut, which then got tracked throughout the house… :p

      Reply

  6. I love that your tried a new recipe! Even if it made a mess, your final product is beautiful. I love the layers, coconut shavings, and jam. Have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply

  7. These look perfect! I absolutely love lamingtons and grew up eating them! Now you have motivated me to make some too (especially since my husband has never had them! Sacrilege!!) Coffee caramel cake is one of my favourite combos, so I can’t wait to see your lamington version of it!! 😀
    Thank you so much for sharing this with us at Fiesta Friday Hannah! 🙂

    Reply

  8. I haven’t tried of lamingtons, but I’ve always wanted to. The sound of cake sandwiched together and coated with chocolate and rolled/covered with coconut is really amazing! Happy FF, Hannah! 🙂

    Reply

  9. I’ve been reading this post for about 10 minutes, and am just now commenting because I keep scrolling up and drooling over your gorgeous photos!! As a budding food blogger, I’m in awe 🙂 Photos aside, this recipe looks amazing!!

    Reply

    • Ha ha! Thank you! That’s really nice to hear as I struggle with the photography, I am improving with practice though; although I could do with having a bit of a prop buying spree!

      Reply

    • Thank you! They are actually easier to make than they look, although do make a bit of a mess… :p

      Reply

    • Thank you 🙂 These were my first lamingtons, you should definitely try them – really yummy!

      Reply

  14. I love how perfect these look. They are all exactly the same and they’re so cute! I struggle so much with making things exactly the same size and shape, which is a bit of a problem with patisserie as individual items are meant to be identical.

    I haven’t had Lamingtons in years, since an Australian colleague made them. I shall have to try these again, this recipe looks great.

    Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare

    Reply

    • Fortunately the sponge cake was really easy to slice cleanly, and I used a ruler to get it exact (and hid any wonky ones at the bottom of the stack 😛 )

      Reply

  16. I love lamingtons and I am more in love with your photography than ever – this looks so perfect! #CookBlogShare

    Reply

  20. Fab! You have done such a brilliant job with these – Lamingtons always remind me of when I first started blogging. I had never heard of them before but found them all over Australian blogs. #Bakeoftheweek

    Reply

    • Thanks Helen 🙂 I have no idea when I first heard of them, as I’d never eaten one before. I don’t know why they aren’t more popular over here!

      Reply

  21. I’d like to make these for a tea I’m having next weekend but with a few changes to be appropriate for the season–cardamom cake with fig jam, and vanilla icing rolled in chopped almonds. I suppose they won’t technically be Lamingtons, but does that sound good? Do you have any tips?

    By the way, I love your blog and always find it very inspiring!

    Reply

    • Oh that sounds absolutely delicious! A really lovely combination of flavours 🙂 Don’t think I’ve got any tips that aren’t mentioned in the recipe, I hope they turn out well for you, let me know! And thank you for your kind words about my blog 🙂

      Reply

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