Lamingtons | Behind the Scenes at the Museum
As well as the scones, she has also produced plates of ham sandwiches (ham courtesy of Walter, the philandering butcher), 'Coconut Madeleines', 'Lamingtons', and 'Little Caramel Pastries' (Very Special!), not to mention 'Piccaninnies' (from Australia) and 'Dago Cakes' - these last two presumably in honour of all our little Commonwealth friends.
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Kate Atkinson
2021 has crept along at a pace so fast it’s been hard to even see glimpses of it go by. And by that I mean it’s Winter already in the frosty streets of Melbourne and suddenly I’ve realised it’s been two months since I’ve posted anything on here. My brain hasn’t been working of late, my carefully laid plans of recipes to try from stacks of new cookbooks and piles of books with hastily underlined mentions of food through their pages have basically disappeared the moment I’ve had any time. Instead my weekends have been spent under a blanket on the couch, watching reruns of television shows I don’t even particularly enjoy.
But I guess that’s just how life goes.
Anyway - a small spark of motivation came through this weekend so I’ve taken full advantage and made a batch of the classic Australian treats, lamingtons. From the pages of Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which is really just the most amazing book. Atkinson’s incredible work has left me a little sleep deprived this week, as I found myself many nights realising it was 2am and I was fighting to keep my eyes open and get through another page. There are just so many foods referenced through this whole book, and making such a classic Australian food from a non-Australian book feels little sacrilegious. But, I couldn’t stop thinking of lamingtons once I saw them down on the page, and thus sometimes you just have to cave to your cravings.
Lamingtons
Ingredients
Cake
400g plain flour
250g raw caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb soda
100ml vegetable oil
380ml milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla paste
Pinch sea salt
+ jam to fill
Icing
200g chocolate pieces
500g icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
15g butter
200g desiccated coconut
Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line with baking paper a square/rectangular baking pan.
Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar together, leave to the side to curdle.
Combine the flour, bi-carb, baking power, sugar, and salt together into a bowl and add in the oil and vanilla. While mixing steadily pour in the milk mixture and combine until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.
Pour your mixture into the prepared tin, making sure that it reaches all sides. Smooth it out on top if needed and bake for approx. 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Once the cake has baked leave to cool before using a serrated knife to carefully cut through the middle until you have two halves.
Seperate the two halves and spread a nice layer of jam across the middle, sandwiching the two cake halves together. I recommend popping this into the freezer for around 30 minutes or so, this will help stop the cake bits from sliding around when you coat with chocolate.
While the cake is in the freezer, you can make the icing. Bring a small pan of water to the boil, place a metal bowl on top of the pan (making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl) and place into it your chocolate pieces and butter. Stir until the chocolate has melted.
In a largish bowl, combine the icing sugar and milk, using a whisk to bring them together.
Pour the melted chocolate and butter mixture into the icing sugar - it should be not too thick, you want to be able to easily dunk the cake bits into it. If it feels too thick add a little more milk in.
Remove the cakes from the freezer and using a sharp knife, slice them into squares (I got around 12 from mine! Don’t forget that once you add the chocolate and coconut on they’ll end up a lot bigger!).
Set up your coconut by pouring the desiccated coconut onto a large plate and make sure you have another plate nearby to put the finished lamington on.
Using two forks, gently dip the cake squares into the chocolate, making sure to coat all sides. Press each side into the coconut afterwards, adhering it to the chocolate and place this onto a plate in a fridge to set. Repeat with all the cakes.
Leave for about 30 minutes to set in the fridge before enjoying!