A long break.. and Lamington Cake

It has been a long time since I've written anything for the blog.. It has not really been a very good year.. and most of it I don't really want to go into.

There have been a couple of good things though - the kids are doing well.. the car is still running.. and I finally can play a few things on the guitar. Finally got back into scrapping a bit, making an album for a very good friend... but that will be another post..

Speaking of said very good friend.. we were talking the other day, and he was telling me about the dessert he was having that day.. which was a lamington cake. Showed it to me via webcam (did I mention he lives in Australia? No? Well, now you know..) and was telling me how awesome they are, so I thought I would make one. Not that I'm the greatest cook on the planet, but hey, it's a cake, right?

So here is what I have learned about lamington cakes...

Lamington cakes have been made in Australia for years. They were named after one of the govenors, Lord Lamington. There are a couple of stories regarding how they came about, but they quickly became a favorite. Australia declared National Lamington Day in 2006, and youth groups have Lamington drives as fund raisers.

They are made of sponge cake, dipped in chocolate, and covered in coconut. Some are made with strawberry jam between the layers, some with raspberry, some with whipped cream.

The other thing I have learned about them? They are MESSY to make lol. But very yummy, especially when made with homemade strawberry jam.

(Photo from Taste.com.au)

The recipe I found was from Taste.com.au - The recipe seemed simple enough, but again, not being of the chef-ly persuasion, I had a few other things to learn.. for one thing "caster sugar" is a super-fine baking sugar. Also, I wasn't able to find any desiccated coconut, so I used what I could find.


Preparation Time

20 minutes

Cooking Time

15 minutes

Ingredients (serves 12)

• Melted butter, to grease
• 75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour
• 40g (1/4 cup) plain flour
• 35g (1/4 cup) cornflour
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 170g (2 cups) desiccated coconut
• 115g (1/3 cup) strawberry jam, warmed

• Chocolate icing

• 300g (2 cups) pure icing sugar
• 35g (1/3 cup) Nestle Baking Cocoa
• 125ml (1/2 cup) water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush two 20cm (base measurement) cake pans with melted butter to grease. Line the bases with non-stick baking paper.
2. Sift the combined flour and cornflour into a bowl. Use an electric beater to beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl for 10-12 minutes or until thick, pale and creamy. Sift half the flour mixture over the egg mixture. Use a large metal spoon to fold until just combined. Repeat with remaining flour mixture.
3. Divide among the prepared pans and smooth the surfaces. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden and the cake springs back when lightly tapped. Set aside in the pans for 5 minutes to cool slightly before turning onto wire racks to cool completely.
4. To make the chocolate icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl. Stir in the water. Pour into a large shallow dish.
5. Spread the coconut over a large tray. Dip the base and side of 1 cake into the icing, allowing any excess to drip off. Place the cake, icing-side down, onto the coconut and turn to coat the base and side. Transfer to a serving plate, coconut-side down. Spread with the jam. Dip the top and side of the remaining cake in the icing, then in the coconut. Top the jam-covered cake with the remaining cake, coconut-side up. Serve.

So here is my cake... it was yummy enough that my son had to have 2 pieces right away.