While I had heard of Lamingtons before, this was my first time trying the classic Australian dessert. I chose to make the traditional Lamington- a vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate glaze and rolled in coconut flakes. The delicate sponge balanced perfectly with the rich chocolate and coconut flavors and kept the dessert from being too sweet. I definitely recommend baking the cake the day before preparing the Lamingtons, to prevent the cake from crumbling too much when rolling in the chocolate glaze!
Lamingtons
Makes 16 individual cakes
6 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup cake flour
2 1/2 oz unsalted butter, melted
3 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2-3/4 cups whole milk
3 cups shredded coconut
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 9-inch square cake pan by buttering and lining with parchment paper.
2. Beat together eggs, sugar, and salt for 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract.
3. Sift cake flour over batter, and carefully fold in flour with a whisk. Fold in melted butter until you can not see any streaks of butter.
4. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
5. After cake has cooled completely, remove from pan and cut into 16 squares.
6. Prepare chocolate glaze: In a large bowl, combine confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, butter and 1/2 cup milk. Place bowl over a pot of hot water, and whisk until smooth. Add more milk to thin icing, as needed.
7. Assemble Lamingtons by dipping each piece of cake into chocolate glaze, then roll in shredded coconut. Allow cakes to set on a wire rack for about 2 hours before serving.
-Cake recipe adapted from David Lebovitz's Lamington recipe available at http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/11/lamingtons-recipe-chocolate-coconut-cake/. Chocolate glaze recipe from thedaringkitchen.com/recipe/lamingtons.
-Posted by Jennifer
