It’s my birthday today, and this year I thought I would change up the cake situation with some classic Aussie lamingtons. For those of you who aren’t familiar with these furry looking morsels, they are something you must try if you ever find yourself down under, or just give them a try at home. Picture, super soft sponge cake, filled with jam, with textured coconut & chocolate jackets on. They look like little koala soldiers if you squint hard enough (or maybe that’s just me).
To stick to the classics, I’ve chosen an Australian Woman’s Weekly recipe for my lamingtons, but I have also added an extra step to fill them with jam, because that’s how you would get them at your local bakery next to the egg tarts and the apple tea cake.
Jam Filled Lamington Fingers
You will need:
4 free range eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup of self raising flour
1/4 cup of corn flour
25g soft butter
1/3 cup boiling water
3 cups desiccated coconut (chunky or fine, which ever you prefer)
a jar of strawberry or raspberry jam
4 cups of icing sugar
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
20g soft butter
3/4 cup of milk
Preheat your oven to 180C, then grease and line a 20 x 30 cm lamington tin or a square baking dish with butter and baking paper.
Beat your eggs in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, then gradually add your caster sugar and beat for a further 8 mins. Meanwhile, sift together your corn flour and self raising flour on a sheet of baking paper. When the beating is done, you should see thick ribbons form when you lift the beater out of the egg. Add the flour and corn flour to the egg mixture, 1/2 first, and fold using a rubber spatula or metal spoon. Once combined, repeat with the rest of the flour, then pour the boiling water over the 25g of butter to melt and fold that in too. Pour it all into the baking dish and bake in the oven for 20-25mins until golden. Test if it’s cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle and it should come out clean. Cool 5mins in the dish, then on a rack until completely cool.
Cut the cake with a bread knife, first into thirds, then half, and into fingers as shown in the video. Half your fingers then spread a layer of jam on one half to make a sandwich. Do this for all of the fingers.
Make the chocolate icing by melting the 20g butter in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Using a whisk to stir, add the cocoa powder and milk, stirring until there are no more lumps, then finally add your icing sugar. Mix until smooth then take off the heat.
Grab a finger, dunk it into the chocolate and turn it with two forks so that it is completely covered. Lift it up and let the excess chocolate drip off before dropping it into a tray of the desiccated coconut. Using your hands, push the coconut onto the sides of the fingers, trying not to touch the chocolate or things will get messy. Once completely covered in coconut, lift out with two clean forks and leave to set on a rack. Repeat until all the fingers are coated.
