Let’s peek inside The Rose Collection once more. there is a particularly quintessential food that evrybody who grew up in Australia or New Zealand will remember. It was a staple offering at school fairs and bakes sales then and is going strong today.
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Jack presents THE LAMINGTON
Lamingtons are reputed to be named after an Australian, Queensland Governor, back in the period 1896-1901. He had quite the mouthful of a name, Rt Hon Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, GCMG. Small cakes were served as a short notice treat to his guests one day by his chef Armand Gallard. Gallard made it up on the spot with some French Vanilla sponge cake, dipped in chocolate and dredged in coconut. Lamingtons were created. Ironically, Lord Lamington was believed to have hated the dessert that had been named in his honour, referring to them as "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".
Don’t take Jack’s word for it, go over to Wikipedia and learn lots more.
Slip into something coconut, and let’s go lamington.
Lamingtons
Ingredients (Yields 16 2" square Lamingtons)
½ cup soft butter (unsalted)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1½ cups flour
4 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
3 tbsp butter
½ cup milk
Cake
• Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºc)
• Grease or lightly butter 8" X 8" cake pan
• Sift flour, baking powder, salt together
• Use electric mixer, whisk, to cream butter & sugar together. Pale and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time. Beat each well.
• Add vanilla and mix well
• Fold in flour mixture and milk with a spoon.
• Add one third at a time, start and finish with flour.
• Spread evenly in cake pan
• Bake for about 30 minutes. Test with toothpick and make sure it comes out clean.
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire tray to completely cool.
• When cool, cut into 2" squares
• Put them in an airtight container and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
• This will makes them easier to handle and prevent crumble during icing.
Icing
• Place icing ingredients in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
• Stir it until smooth, but still thick, Don’t let it get too thin. Remove from heat.
Assembly
• Now, get your lamington assembly line set up.
• Newspaper underneath will help with cleanup
• Put cakes cubes on one plate
• The icing in a flat dish adjacent
• The coconut in another flat dish adjacent to that
• Coat the cake cubes on all sides with the icing mixture, Fork and spoon is handy.
• Gently roll all sides in coconut
• Place on serving dish
• Repeat 15 times.
SERVE and ENJOY
