14 Jul National Lamington Day
Would you ever have thought that stale cake would up tasting so delicious?
July 21 is National Lamington Day so it got me thinking. Where di the Aussie icon “the Lamington” originate? The answer surprised me.
A maid-servant was working at Government House in Brisbane when she accidentally dropped the Governors favourite sponge cake into some melted chocolate. Lord Lamington (not his actual name – Charles Wallace Alexander Napier CHOCHRANE-BAILLIE) was not a person of wasteful habits and suggested that it be dipped in coconut to cover the chocolate to avoid messy fingers. And this little mishap was over a century ago. We should count ourselves lucky that the scrumptious lamington was not named the Chochrane-Baillie.
Have fun this weekend and rustle up your friends, kids and whoever likes to get there hands messy in the kitchen and try this lamington recipe.
Cake Ingredients
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence 1 cup self-raising flour 1/2 cup milk.
Method
Beat the eggs well, gradually adding the sugar until dissolved.
Add the milk and vanilla essence and then stir in the self-raising flour and whip the butter into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a cake tin or lamington baking dish and bake in a moderate oven of 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes and then stand for 24 hours preferably in the refrigerator, before applying the icing.
The Chocolate Icing Ingredients
4 cups icing sugar 1/3 cup cocoa
2 table spoons butter 1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons boiling water 3 cups desiccated coconut.
Method
Stir the cocoa and icing sugar vigorously in a large bowl, adding the milk , butter and boiling
water, warming the chocolate mixture over a very low heat until it has a smooth creamy texture.
Cut the sponge cake into equal squares about 5cm x 5cm and, using a fork or thin skewer, dip each piece into the chocolate mixture ensuring that the mixture is liberally and evenly applied.
Dip each piece into the desiccated coconut, allowing the lamingtons to cool on a wire tray for several hours.
