Australians, the largest consumers of chocolate in the world, have created an epic dessert called Lamingtons. Vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate and then rolled in coconut? What’s not to love?!
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Baking is Therapy
With as much as I love dessert and as much as I love to cook, I can assume you’ve figured out that I L-O-V-E to bake.
Baking is a big form of comfort for me. When life is crazy and everything is going wrong, it’s comforting to know that if you mix juuuuust the right amount of flour with juuuuuuust the right amount of sugar, everything will turn out exactly how it’s supposed to.
Mixing together a big bowl of batter is the perfect therapy for me. I KNOW that just the right amount of baking powder will make my cake rise.
I know that beating my eggs to stiff peaks will create the texture I’m looking for. And I know that cooking at the right temperature will affect the bake of my food.
When everything is uncontrollable– when jobs aren’t going right, and people get sick, and you’re worried about too much– baking is something that you can control.
You can roll up your sleeves and get lost in the preciseness of your actions. And for that, I am grateful.
Lamgintons: A Trouble-Maker
These lamingtons were a Foreign Fork trouble maker. I made them a few times… first I liked the cake but not the chocolate. Then, I liked the chocolate but not the cake. Finally, after combining the two, I can share this recipe proudly.
The one issue that I was unable to overcome was the coconut. Australians use dessicated, or finely ground, coconut to coat their lamingtons. Unfortunately, I struggled to find this ingredient in America. After a lot of searching, I resigned myself to having to settle for shredded coconut. Not nearly as pretty, but just as tasty.
Lamingtons are found all over Australia, and after tasting this recipe, I can see why.
Have you ever tasted something that you couldn’t stop eating no matter how hard you try? You know you’re not hungry and you know you should stop, but it’s just too good and you can’t!
That’s how these lamingtons are. Sponge cake with chocolate and coconut? That’s an addicting dessert if I’ve ever heard of one!
Like this recipe? Also check out my Afghan Semolina Sweetmeat and my Andorran torrijas.
Like this recipe? Comment below! If you post a picture on instagram, don’t forget to tag #theforeignfork!
Australian Lamingtons
Ingredients
Sponge Cake
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Topping
- 3 ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 7 oz milk chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup milk
- 12 oz dessicated coconut, or shredded if you cant find dessicated
Instructions
Making the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour an 8×8 pan, lining the base of the pan with parchment paper.
- Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer for about three minutes.
- Sift the flour and the baking powder into the wet mixture and mix to combine.
- Add the melted butter into the mixture a little at a time and stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 30 minutes.
Make the Frosting
- Boil water in a pot on the stove. Place a glass bowl over the pot, large enough to sit on the rim of the pot without falling in. This is a double boiler!
- Add the butter and the chocolate into the glass bowl. Stir until the chocolate melts.
- Add the powdered sugar. Add the milk. Mix until fully combined. The frosting should be thick but still able to pour. Add more milk if necessary.
Assembling the Lamingtons
- Remove the cake from the pan. Using a large knife, cut the edges off of the cake so that it is a perfect square.
- Cut the cake into 20-25 pieces, depending on how large you want your lamingtons.
- Empty the coconut into a shallow bowl. Dip each lamington in chocolate and then roll in the coconut.
- Let the lamingtons sit on a wire rack to cool for about one hour before enjoying!
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