For the May challenge Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina dared us to make Lamingtons. An Australian delicacy that is as tasty as it is elegant.
Question: Is there anything so good as a fresh lamington? Answer: Absolutely, flippin’ not! For us New Zealanders, lamingtons are about as Kiwi as you can get. The fact that they apparently originated in Aussie is neither here nor there. So when The Daring Kitchen challenged us to make lamingtons, I was stoked.
If you don’t know what lamingtons are (and that’s quite possible if you live outside of Australasia), they’re light-as-air sponge cakes coated in either chocolate icing or raspberry jelly, then rolled in coconut. Interestingly, while Aussies tend to prefer their lamingtons chocolate coated (check them out here), we New Zealanders have always prefers ours coated in raspberry jelly with cream in the middle – not sure why… just always been that way. So, while most of the other Daring Kitchen members went the chocolate route, I stuck to raspberry, the Kiwi favourite.
While The Daring Kitchen provided a recipe (which I previously posted, but have since deleted due to a reader having tried it and declaring it a ‘fail’), I opted to go with another recipe which I discovered quite by accident. Having located a promising recipe, I read through the reviewer’s comments and came upon a very confident statement from someone saying that the recipe he used (which he duly noted) was THE BEST recipe out there! How could I possibly resist?
Despite the reviewer leaving scant details, I characteristically plunged in, doing a bit of guesswork and making a few adaptations along the way. And, lo and behold, the results really were as good as he promised. What’s absolutely super about this recipe is that it’s gluten-free! Yep, no wheat flour in sight, which can’t be said of all lamington recipes. Cornflour (or corn starch) is the flour of choice here and believe me, it makes all the difference!
If you haven’t tried lamingtons before, you are in for a right royal treat. Frankly, I could easily give all other cakes away and just eat lamingtons for the rest of my life… strange, but true. Enjoy! PS: If you’d like to try making Australia’s favourite chocolate lamington version, here’s the link.
RASPBERRY LAMINGTONS
Serves: About 18
Ingredients: (This recipe uses metric measurements – click here for Unit Converter)
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup cornflour (corn starch)
- 2 tablespoons custard powder
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
For the raspberry coating:
- 1 packet raspberry jelly
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 cups dessicated coconut
- 3/4 cup cream, whipped
Method:
- Preheat oven to moderate 180°C/350°F.
- Prepare a standard lamington or sponge roll tin by greasing and lining with non-stick paper. Note: Lamington pans (or sponge roll pans) come in various sizes – so don’t worry if yours differs a little in terms of measurements. If you don’t have a lamington pan, you can use a square cake pan, but be aware the baking time may change – I used a 20cm (8 inch) deep sided square cake tin which gave me lovely tall lamingtons but took about double the amount of time to bake.
- Sift the baking soda, cornflour, custard powder and cream of tartar three times and set aside.
- Beat egg whites until they reach soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar a tablespoon at a time and beat until the mixture is stiff and no longer gritty. Then add the yolks one at a time and beat for a further two minutes.
- With a large metal spoon, add the sifted dry ingredients and fold in very gently in two batches.
- Transfer the batter into a greased and lined sponge roll tin with deep sides and bake 15-20 mins or until it is lightly golden and springs back when you press the surface lightly. The cake will rise quite high during baking, and then deflate again prior to taking it out – this is normal. If you have the nerve, some bakers recommend dropping the sponge on the bench just after cooking, which apparently prevents the sponge from deflating and keeps it light (I didn’t and they still turned out fine).
- Turn the sponge out onto a wire rack immediately and let it cool completely. Once cool, you can trim the crusts if you think they’re a bit tough and then cut the sponge into approx. 5 cm squares (if you find the cake hard to slice, try putting it briefly into the freezer to firm it up).
For the raspberry coating & assembly:
- Make the raspberry jelly by combining 1 packet of jelly with 1 cup boiling water in a medium sized heat resistant bowl. Allow to cool and partially set, but it should still be pourable.
- Using a couple of forks, dip sponge squares (one at a time) into jelly and set on a wire rack, side by side, so that any excess jelly can drain off.
- Put the coconut into a bowl or dish. Using the two forks again, dip each sponge square into the bowl of coconut and roll around until coated (alternatively, you can hold the lamington above the bowl of coconut and spoon the coconut over it). Put the lamingtons back onto the wire rack to set fully.**
- Cut the lamingtons almost in half and fill with whipped cream. You can even dollop a small amount of raspberry jam in with the cream as well.
Notes:
- *You can keep the cake for a day before actually making the lamingtons, making the cake not so soft and easier to handle, otherwise freeze it briefly after making to ensure easier cutting.
- **You can store lamingtons (without the cream) in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days – they actually taste better as the flavours have time to deepen. Lamingtons would last in the freezer for 2 months at least.
Food Photography Info: Canon 550D (EOS Rebel T2i); Sigma 30mm 1.4 DC ‘Art’ lens / Natural lighting
Just one word WOOW!!!
Thank You verry mutch fore all the information.
Have a nice day
Theo
http://theoherbotsgezonderecepten.com/author/theoherbots/
Thanks so much!
Since moving to NZ my kids have fallen in love with these and are sad they don’t sell them in the states. They will be so glad that you shared this homemade version, and I have a feeling it will taste better than the store bought kind!
You’re so right… these are WAY better than store bought!
Wow, love the color!
Yep, hot pink lamingtons!
Yum! Your lamingtons look amazing! I love the look of the shredded coconut and their beautiful colour! Thank you for participating!
Thanks so much Marcellina – fab challenge!
Thanks for much for the two recipes for the sponge cake. I love the idea of the raspberry Lamingtons, I never know you could use jelly to coat the Lamingtons that is a great idea.
Your Lamingtons look so dreamy, wonderful for a brunch.
Lovely work on this challenge.
Yours Audax in Sydney Australia.
Hey, Audax. Thanks for the lovely comments – and may I add, your jam filled chocolate ones looked ‘to die for’ too!
Your Lamingtons look delicious Susan! I’m looking forward to trying this version as soon as possible, speaking as someone who also loves Lamingtons. I’ve only just discovered them so I have a lot of catching up to do eating them! 🙂 Can’t wait to try your raspberry jelly version – thanks for sharing! 🙂
These look absolutely delicious Susan! Love your photo and congrats on also completing this month’s Daring Kitchen Bakers Challenge also!
Thanks so much Joanne – lovely to hear from you!
I’d forgotten how much I love/miss lamingtons! and of course, the raspberry ones are the BEST.
Yeah, aren’t they just the greatest?! You’ll have to start making your own!
We do actually have these in the USA but they are called Zingers and they are still my favorite! Sold in most grocery stores. Not saying they are as good as homemade though
Gosh, how interesting. Sooner or later pretty much everything makes it around the globe!
Tried the first lamington recipe . i thought it had so many eggs and not much cornflour … But gave it a shot. It rose up and looked good but deflated to 2cm… Looks like baked lemon tart inside… Yellow dense custard…
Didn’t work.. Wasted those eggs. Can’t upload a picture.
Hi Lisa. Thanks for letting me know – I’m really sorry it didn’t work for you. The recipe you used was the official recipe provided by The Daring Kitchen at the time. However, as I mention on the blog, I used the second recipe which worked well for me. Given your feedback, I will take off the first ‘official’ recipe as I can’t personally vouch for it, and keep the one I used.
At what point do you add cream of tartar?
Hi Deb. Thanks for pointing out the omission from the instructions – I’ve corrected it.
Great recipe can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for sharing.
Can i ask why you use corn flour instead of plain flour?
Hi. I prefer lamingtons to be gluten free and I love the light, fluffy texture when made with corn flour. While most recipes these days make a traditional sponge with part wheat/part corn flour, you can still find some classic recipes which are based on whipped eggs and corn flour – my personal favourite.