Try your hand at true blue lamingtons, Australia’s most iconic small cakes. These soft buttery cubes of cake coated in a thin layer of chocolate icing and coconut may look tricky, but making them is actually a piece of cake!
How to make lamingtons: key tips
These cute cakes are quite easy to make, but there are a few tricks of the trade to make the most lovely lamingtons. Start with room-temperature ingredients. Softened butter is obvious, as you need to be able to beat it, but the eggs and milk shouldn’t be straight out of the fridge either. The shock of adding them cold would stiffen the butter and affect the overall texture of the cake.
The perfect lamington is all about the ratio of sweet chocolate icing to the cake. The thin coating of icing should soak just enough into the buttery sponge to be appreciated, but not so much that the cake becomes wet and falls apart.
Therefore, after the cake has cooled, it’s best to cut it into squares and then freeze the squares overnight. If the lamingtons are coated straightaway, they will be too light and soak up too much icing. You will also end up with lots of lumpy crumbs in the icing. Freezing takes care of this problem.
You can choose whether or not you want to halve your lamingtons and sandwich them with jam, before you coat them in chocolate icing and coconut, or coat the cake squares as is.
Key ingredients in this lamingtons recipe
Choose a good-quality cocoa powder for the most chocolatey flavoured icing and sift it into the mixing bowl with the icing sugar to prevent any unwanted lumps.
Golden syrup is a secret ingredient in these lamingtons, adding a delicious caramelly sweetness to the chocolate icing – don’t worry the coconut coating will save sticky fingers!
If you’re adding jam centres to your lamingtons, strawberry jam is the go-to. Any conserve will do!
If you love lamingtons, you’ll also love these 15 lovely lamington recipes, from lamington doughnuts to a lamington slice and a stunning lamington layer cake.
This recipe was originally submitted by Faye Mac, a member of the Australia’s Best Recipe community. Introduction and additional recipe notes by Natasha Shaw.
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cups plain flour
- 2 1/4 cups caster sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 185 g butter melted
- 600 ml buttermilk
Icing
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tbs cocoa powder
- 2 tsp golden syrup
- 1 cup desiccated coconut *to decorate
Method
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Step 1Lamingtons: Sift flour with the dry ingredients into a bowl.
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Step 2Stir in the melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla, and mix until well combined and smooth.
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Step 3Pour into a large, lined slab tin or other cake tin of choice.
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Step 4Bake in the oven at 180C for about 45-60 minutes, depending on type of cake tin used.
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Step 5When the cake has thoroughly cooled, cut into 4cm x 4cm pieces.
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Step 6Wrap cake in foil and put into the freezer for a few hours or overnight. When ready to ice, take out of the freezer and thaw for approximately 5 minutes.
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Step 7Icing: Mix icing ingredients together then add enough boiling water to make a runny consistency.
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Step 8Put icing in a double boiler over boiling water. Hold lamington on a fork and ladle icing over the top until covered. Hold over the bowl while it drips, then roll in desiccated coconut.
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Step 9Dry lamingtons on a cake rack with greaseproof paper underneath to catch the coconut.
Recipe Notes
Should I trim the cake for these lamingtons?
Trimming the top and sides of your whole cooled cake will help the chocolate mixture to soak into all sides of the lamingtons evenly. When cutting the lamingtons, use a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion for really clean and even cuts.
How do I store lamingtons?
Store your lamingtons in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the pantry or up to 5 days in the fridge. Note that these cakes will dry out over time.
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