Recipes

Lamingtons

Daisy Nichols|

Lamingtons
4.5 (2 ratings)
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I absolutely love lamingtons and so does my wife, Cath — they are her favourite. I make batches of these and they freeze really well. We also like to eat them frozen, but maybe that’s just us? Anyway, these lamingtons are a fantastic version of this popular cake. The jam is the best part and the cavity-filling method is a neat trick. The sponge is delicious and can be used as a Madeira sponge as well if you like. — Darren Purchese, author of Lamingtons & Lemon TartComponents:Lamington spongeDark chocolate covering
Servings
9
Ingredients
  • 8 eggs, at room temperature
  • finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped
  • 9 1/2 ounce caster (superfine) sugar
  • 9 1/2 ounce self-rising flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 7 ounce unsalted butter, melted
  • raspberry jam as needed
  • 1 pound 5 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 7 fluid ounces whipping cream
  • 7 fluid ounces whole milk
  • 1 lb 5 oz desiccated coconut
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-by-8-by-2-inch square non-stick cake tin. Line the base and sides with baking paper cut to size.
  2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla seeds, and sugar on medium–high speed for 20 minutes. The mixture should be thick and pale.
  3. Sift the flour with the baking powder, then gently fold this into the egg mixture using a spatula.
  4. Take around 7 ounces of the batter and whisk it into the cooled, melted — but still liquid — butter and then transfer this mixture back to the bowl with the remaining batter. Fold all together well but gently, using a spatula or metal spoon.
  5. Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes until cooked through. A skewer inserted into the centre of the sponge should come out clean. Remove from the oven and leave the sponge to cool in the tin completely.
  6. Remove the sponge from the tin and trim any brown edges off with a serrated knife. You should be left with a clean, square sponge with the approximate dimensions of 7 inches by 7 inches.
  7. Use a sharp knife to cut the sponge into nine 2-inch cubes. Freeze any trimmed sponge to fold into ice cream another time.
  8. Take a melon baller and scoop out two balls from the sponge. Fill the cavity with raspberry jam from a piping (icing) bag and plug the hole with the first scooped sponge ball. Fill all nine sponge cubes and place them, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for 1 hour to harden slightly before covering with chocolate.
  9. Melt the chocolate in the microwave.
  10. Heat the cream and milk together in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts to boil. Pour the hot milk mixture over the chocolate and stir to emulsify until you have a smooth, shiny cream.
  11. To assemble:
  12. Scatter some of the desiccated coconut onto a shallow baking tray.
  13. Remove the sponges from the refrigerator and use two forks or skewers to dip the sponges in the chocolate covering. Gently shake off any excess chocolate and immediately place the dipped sponge in the tray of coconut. Sprinkle over some of the remaining coconut and ensure the lamingtons are covered entirely before placing them on a wire rack over a tray to set for 30 minutes before scoffing.
  14. Recipe adapted from Lamingtons & Lemon Tart by Darren Purchese (Hardie Grant, 2017)
 
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