Australia sure is beautiful. Full of natural and architectural wonders. It leaves us all in awe. This beautiful country celebrates Australian day on the 26th of January. And with Australia so close to South Africa and so many of our Family members and friends now living there we just have to celebrate with them. Therefore I can not think of a better way to celebrate this special day than to bake a truly Australian treat, Lamingtons.
Are you familiar with Lamingtons?
They are square shaped vanilla sponge cake dipped in a chocolate sauce and then rolled in shredded coconut. Traditionally these little coconut covered squares are then two, two sandwiched together with a raspberry or strawberry jam in between. Personally I prefer them plain and with out the jam. They just taste amazing.
They also look quite impressive “real rippers” like the Australians would say. So serving these at tea time will have your guests talking, for sure.
Celebrate Australian day
This recipe makes around 72 blocks. Depending of the size.
Lamingtons
Cake Batter:
375ml white sugar
4 large eggs
250 ml Milk
75ml sunflower oil
500 ml white cake flour
20 ml Baking powder
1 ml Salt
5 ml Vanilla essence
4 cups shredded coconut (to roll the cake in)
Chocolate sauce:
875 ml white sugar
450 ml water
50 ml Margarine
75ml Cacao
5 ml Vanilla essence
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 C
Grease a oven safe pan (33 X 27 X 5 cm) Line your pan with wax paper and remember to grease this paper as well.
For the Cake:
Using an electric mixer and beat together the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. In a separate microwave safe bowl combine the milk and the oil. Then heat this mixture until the milk boils. Now add the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture while mixing. Make sure to add the hot milk slowly.
In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Now mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Mix well. Mix in the vanilla essence.
Now pour in the batter into your prepared pan.
Bake in your preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes or until your cake is golden brown and baked. Let the cake cool a little in the pan before removing your cake and letting it cool completely on a cooling rack.
Once the cake is cooled cut into blocks of 5 cm each and cover until later.
For the chocolate sauce:
Mix all the ingredients for the sauce into a pot, except the vanilla essence. Bring to boil. Now remove the pot from the heat and add in the vanilla essence.
Using a slotted spoon, dip each cake square into the chocolate sauce, making sure to cover all the sides. (Take care not to leave the piece of cake to long in the sauce. Otherwise it will make the cake so soggy.)
Once your square is covered take it out of the sauce and roll the cake piece in the shredded coconut. Set the cake onto a cooling rack until you have completed all the blocks.
Once done store your lamingtons in an airtight container in the fridge.
Enjoy.
Let me know what you think of these little Australian treats. They have always been a treat growing up, and I still enjoy making them for my kids.
If you are in the mood to bake, why not give our South African treat, Hertzoggies cookies a try. They are pretty amazing. https://www.livingdelish.com/hertzoggie-cookies/
Let me know which one is your favourite. 😉
