Recipe: Lamingtons with Jam Filling

By Ms. Taste

I woke up last Saturday realising I needed to use up the eggs in my fridge as they were a day away from expiring. So I decided to make a batch of Lamingtons with Jam Filling (which requires a whopping 6 eggs!). I can’t even remember the last time I had these, but boy did I get excited at the thought of making my own.

The classic Aussie lamington

I found an easy enough recipe from Taste.com.au, secretly wishing I had a recipe from the Country Women’s Association cooking bible. No one makes lamingtons better than country women!

The thing that determines a good lamington for me is the soft fluffy sponge cake centre. I didn’t realise how difficult it was to master this until I pulled my cake out of the oven and seeing that it was thick and dense. I must have over beaten my eggs, or maybe not enough.

Lamingtons with Jam Filling (Serves 6)

Ingredients

Sponge cake
Melted butter, to grease
75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour
75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
70g (1/2 cup) cornflour
6 eggs, at room temperature
215g (1 cup) caster sugar
1 tbs boiling water

Chocolate icing
300g (2 cups) icing sugar mixture
35g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
60ml (1/4 cup) milk
60ml (1/4 cup) boiling water

Strawberry jam
170g (2 cups) desiccated coconut

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush a 19 x 29cm (base measurement) lamington pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang slightly.

2. Sift the combined flours together into a large bowl. Repeat twice.

3. Use an electric beater to whisk the eggs in a large clean, dry bowl until thick and pale. Gradually add the sugar, 1 tbs at a time, whisking well after each addition until mixture is thick and sugar dissolves.

4. Sift the combined flours over the egg mixture. Pour the boiling water down the side of the bowl. Use a large metal spoon to gently fold until just combined. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn cake onto a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside overnight to cool.

5. Trim the edges of the cake and cut into even squares. Combine two squares together and fill with jam. Leave to set for an hour.

6. To make the chocolate icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. Add the milk and water and stir until smooth.

7. Spread the coconut over a plate. Use 2 forks to dip 1 cake square into the warm icing to evenly coat. Allow any excess icing to drip off. Use your fingers to roll the cake in the coconut to evenly coat, then place on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining cake squares, icing and coconut. Set aside for 1 hour or until icing sets.