Lamingtons

It may help users to know that Australian colonial cooks used this recipe to freshen up STALE cake. Storing the cake overnight in a tin is sometimes not enough to firm the cake prior to icing. I suggest leaving it on the cooling rack, uncovered, on your kitchen bench overnight. This helps prevent the crumbling that one reviewer had problems with. Also cutting the cut into squares of not more than about 7cm helps. It is true that we Australians like to split the lamingtons in half and fill with whipped cream to make an old fashioned tea cake but some also like to split the cake before icing and sandwich the halves together again with a layer of strawberry jam. This is much easier to ice if your cake is quite firm. I have never met a lamington I did not like and this recipe is no exception!

Great recipe. As an Aussie i have tasted my fair share and these were a hit at an "aussie themed party in vienna". i froze them before cutting and coating and it prevented any crumbling. worth giving a try again if it didn't turn out the first time. cut in bite size pieces for a party and freeze. can freeze with chocolate and coconut and take out in the morning.

I am from Australia and this is a great Lamington recipe. These are traditionaly served split in half with cream in the middle, just like Nana used to make, yum. Thanks for the great recipe.

boo

These were really good and fairly easy to make since I used store bought pound cake because I didn't have time to make a cake. I served them at an Australian International dinner and one of the guests was from Australia. His only critique was the size. I made the pieces bite-size but in Australia, Lamingtona are about 20 cm square (4 inches)!

These ended up tasting good, and my kids liked them, but I had a hard time making them. This is probably due more to my inexperience than with the recipe, but when I tried to dip the pieces of cake, they kept breaking off in the chocolate... Maybe some extra tips for us novices?

Love Lamingtons! The only variation i make is slice the already sliced un coated cake and spread strawberry preserve on one sied of each, then put it back together like a sandwich and then coat it with the choc and coconut. yummy.

I love this recipe! Easy to make, and tastes much nicer than store-bought lamingtons. I didn't have a 8x12 inch pan so I used a 9.5x12 inch pan instead and baked the cake for 25 minutes. I also followed another reviewers suggestion and left the cake uncovered overnight. I will be making this recipe again. =)

delicious and a lot of fun to make with the kids! i'm an aussie and this recipe is authentic!

After cooling my cake, I split it, spread with Strawberry Jam, put the top back on, and put it in the freezer overnight. I make my chocolate icing in the top of a double boiler to prevent the icing from forming a thin crust in between dipping chunks of cake. I like to make these with two people! I dip and drip and someone else rolls in coconut! Keeps my fingers clean too ;) I am a Canadian married to an Aussie and make Lamingtons on January 26 every year!

To paraphrase Marie Antoinette, this cake, properly presented, will most certainly be eaten.

This is the most messy cake I have ever made in my life BUT once I found my little "method" things went pretty good. I used a long skewer and put on 4 pieces of cake, drop the icing on all of them with a spoon and while they were dripping the icing I started another skewer. Once the second was dripping I put the coconut on the first and I repeated until I actually ran out of icing and had some cake left over plain. The result is pretty yummy.

5-stars, per my Aussie friend. I had never heard of these but saw a photo posted and was intrigued. A close friend of mine from Australia was the recipient of these treats and he said they were spot-on. They brought back memories from being a little kid, hanging out with grandma & grandpa and getting these as treats. **The store I stopped at for coconut only had sweetened so I just toasted it a little bit in the oven to dry it out a tad and lose a little sweetness. Worked like a charm, as a substitute. **FILL with the jelly as other recommend!! That was the first question he excitedly asked me =) So sweet to see a 30-year old guy get excited about these little cakes!

As some other reviewers have said, it's easier if you freeze/refrigerate before cutting and dipping into the icing. Just wrap in plastic and stick in freezer (I prefer refrigerator) for a few hours and you can make these the same day. As for the recipe itself, (1) use 2 teaspoons, of baking powder, (2) preheat and bake at 350, not 375 F, (3) bake for 25-30 minutes, (4) use a smaller pan, such as 8"x8", if you want cubes instead of flat rectangles. This was a very messy process, but after you coat them in desiccated coconut (not sweetened flakes), it looks delicious!

Mmmm so yummy, I made these after seeing communitychannel eat them lol. First of all, the icing in this recipe is extremely forgiving... you can just eyeball the measurements. I used less powdered sugar to make it less sweet and more chocolatey, and I added more milk... you want a somewhat runny, thin consistency for this cake! I highly recommend stirring in a heat safe bowl and then putting the bowl over barely simmering water (making a double boiler) to keep the icing melted and runny as you take your time dipping. The cake in lamingtons can be any generic sponge or butter cake; I used Nannie's Hot Milk Sponge Cake right after it cooled and had no problem with crumbs! Also, this recipe is incorrect in using FLAKED coconut, which is waaay too sweet. Use DESSICATED coconut to perfectly compliment the flavor and make it a lot prettier/ the authentic Australian lamington.

I am an Aussie and when I make lamingtons I put the cooked base cake into the freezer for about 15 minutes if I am a hurry, otherwise I store the cooked base cake in the refrigerator overnight. These two tips make it easier to cut and ice into lamingtons with no crumbs. The fork also holds the squares of cake better. Good icing in this. recipe. A another way I use the base cake is to simply ice it with chocolate icing and sprinkle with dessicated coconut. I also use this base for making trifles.

these are awesome, we used a white cake mix, and let it get a couple of days old for easier handling. There is a small error in the recipe, the frosting recipe calls for 2tbls butter but the method calls for 2tsps butter. Not sure which is correct. I used the 2tsps but needed to add more milk to make it thinner. When we were growing up in the Boston area our local bakeries had these and called them icicles, the taste immediately brought back fond memories of having these at my grandmas house.

Ok first of all this cake really is yummy!! Now the reason that I gave it 3 stars was because it said to bake between 30 and 4o minutes. Had I done that the cake would've burnt to a crisp. It was ready in 20 minutes. And it was spongy just like you said. 2nd I let it cool like you said and used a fork to dip it in the chocolate but the cake kept breaking apart so I decided to use on hand to dip it in the chocolate and the other hand to roll it in the coconut. 3rd.. it was impossible to roll it in the coconut without the chocolate goop running over the rest of the coconut. Basicailly it was a sloppy mess. It doesn't look attractive on my cake dish at all. I mean it really is a yummy cake ... just not one that I would share with my friends because of the way it looks. Looks like a 6 year old made it. Oh well...

I quickly saw that the icing was not fluid enough. I warmed up a little more milk and added it to the icing. Also, my granny fork worked better than a regular fork. (The granny fork is sharp on the end - used to cut meat.)

Tasted like stale yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I would not make this again.

I was living in Australia and loved Lamingtons. Now back in US and decided to try out. Following this recipe was very easy, however, my sponge cake grow so huge (4 tsp baking powder, really? All other recipes says only 2 tsp!) Cutting cake was also really hard, it was crumbling all over and pieces of cakes were left in chocolate icing. Worst part - it does not taste like Lamingtons at all! It just tastes plain and.. wrong.

The most perfect and authentic lamington recipe in 20years

So yummy! Made these for a party and everyone said they were like something they would go out and buy from a sweets shop or bakery! It's official though - I will only make these and take them to someone else's house or a party. I will no longer make these to entertain friends at my house... because I eat ALL of the leftovers. Very dangerous. So yummy though!

I have my own cake business so what I did wrong on this recipe I do not know. I am also from Australia and this came out nothing like the ones I grew up on. It turned out almost bread like and had an unappealing taste and consistency, I did not even get to the chocolate part. I am going to try my own cake recipe with the chocolate part of this recipe to see how that works.

I am from N.E. Ohio and had no idea that these were original to Australia! I grew up with these in our bakeries and we just called them coconut bars. The overall taste is the same. I followed recipe and i also followed one comment that said to leave the cake out over night and I think that was a bad idea. It was too dry. I also think next time I would bake in oven for 25 minutes, not 30. The other tip is for the chocolate icing, I melted butter and milk and kept it over heat while I added the cocoa powder and con. sugar...was easier to reheat it when I needed too cauuse the icing tends to cool down quick and thicken and you need it thinner and fluidy....

Add a twist to Australia's and New Zealands favourite cake. Make up a Raspberry or Strawberry Jelly when cool dip the cut pieces of sponge in the jelly and then roll carefully in the coconut and place on wire rack with baking paper underneath to catch drips. My mother used to make pink and chocolate lamingtons every sunday,when we were children over 60 years ago. Lamingtons can be tricky to keep intact, and if the sponge is too fresh they may fall apart. Try making the sponge one to two days ahead, or freezing it until you're ready,it's easier to cut into neat squares while it's still frozen,and after half an hour it will be the perfect consistency to start rolling in the icing.

This recipe is fantastic! I made them for a class and therefore divided the cake into 40 slices, which actually turned out great because I found the servings to be the perfect size and would turn it into about 40 pieces again. I tested the batch on my family before presenting them to the class and they raved! * I sliced the cake in half and spread a layer of strawberry preserves in the middle before sandwiching it and rolling it in the chocolate and coconut- I definitely recommend this addition! * I also found that I needed to double the amount of icing I made *I stored the cake in the fridge over night before adding the strawberry, dipping and rolling also.

Greatly Australian tradition, Lamingtons are awesome... Im a fan since a kid... :D

I used a chocolate dipper to get the sponge out of the chocolate sauce and it made it way easier- just the right amount stayed on.

Delicious! The whole family loved these! Thanks for sharing these! I'm going to have to make these again and try them with the cream and also the strawberry jam in the center!! This is a family favorite!

My sister visited me when we lived in Australia and fell in love with lamingtons. When she came for a visit I figured I would make them for her and they went over better than I could have expected. I made the cakes in the morning and left them uncovered until the night when I cut them and finished making them into lamingtons and they turned out beautiful. I am now the official desert maker at family gatherings. Thanks for a stroll down memory lane.

The Lamington itself is sort of bland, but the icing for it makes a perfect match!! It was a hit at our dinner!

i just made this and to be honest, the chocolate-icing is REALLY sweet! I'll definitely make the cake again though! :) just with another chocolat glazing

I moved to a new city and couldn't find a bakery to supply Lamingtons. This was the perfect recipe and very easy to follow. Even with no Lamington making experience they turned out lovely. I found the baking time a little off. I followed the recommended time and it got a little well done on the bottom, but other than that it was great!!

Great recipe. It was pretty forgiving I think, as I'm almost positive I put too much flour by scooping it from the bag, but the end product was great! Although when plain they leave something to be desired. They're good, look good, and taste good, but they don't seem to be something you'd look forward to seeing in a desert shop. I cut into the bread for a couple of them and filled them with raspberry jam, and then put the top of the cutout piece back on top before coating them and those turned out quite good. Didn't have any strawberry jam on hand, and I'm sure those would be fantastic.

I loved these lamingtons (I love chocolate in general), but my family found it too sweet--probably because I used sweetened coconut. Getting the cake out of the pan and coating it with chocolate was a little tough--it kept breaking apart. Besides that, yum.

Very very good. The first time I made themthey turned out great. The cake was wonderful. so was the chocolate. The second time I made them they were very good. One time the chocolate turned out horrible, tough as plastic, I had the chocholate's temperature too low and it like boiled into plastic. It tasted terrible.

After a trip to Australia I was addicted to these sweet little treats, this recipe was amazing I just need to master the art of chocolate coating them!

Lots of lovely variations of Lamingtons gives us that richness of flavour from the colour coated icing on the outside embedded in dessicated coconut. It's a basic recipe, very affordable and easy to make. I do recommend that if it is your first lamington to keep it simple and natural with flavours. Definitely first baking experience just an original Lamington without fillings to be able to perfect a Lamington before adding your own variations. Delicious for the entire family served with vanilla ice cream simply for great taste. ?? I love Lamingtons and definitely a huge hit for children as well as adults. You can never go wrong with making it IF you make sure to keep it Fresh soft on the inside AND on the outside with the coconut coloured flavoured icing. Thumbs up??

tops. lamingtons are a top Aussie icon, and the taste with this recipe represents us Aussies well :)

Absolutely awful!! The recipe said to cook it between 30-40 minutes. It was already nearly burned after 25 minutes. The cookies/cakes didn't rise at all & they were dry as a bone.... didn't absorb the chocolate frosting either. The only good part was the frosting. It was very yummy!!

I halved the recipe and made 6 cupcakes coz It's easier for me to dip the cake only at the top. I separated eggs, beat the egg whites and fold them in the batter to make the cake lighter. I gotta say I loved these more than store-bought ones. I'm in NZ btw. Thank you for the recipe.

I used a vanilla cake mix, which I froze before frosting to prevent crumbling. Then I cut in to squares which I cut again crossways and filled with raspberry jam, before dipping in frosting and coconut. An absolute hit with my American work collegues. :) My mum used to "double dip" them, chocolate, coconut, then chocolate and coconut again. Messy but delicious.

Love the recipe! I found that I needed to keep the sponge in a deep dish and it should probably be a self-raising flour otherwise it turned a bit odd. I didn't leave the sponge overnight, but I put it in the freezer for 1/2 hour instead before carrying out the usual procedure.

The tip to freeze before cutting is key. I also, surprisingly, needed more frosting then the recipe called for.

it was messy and nasty

The chocolate icing is so unnecessarily sweet. Ridiculously so. Almost uneatable.

I made the cake as directed but with only 2 tsp of baking powder as suggested in other reviews and I baked it at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. It came out great and the icing/decorating went well too, only the icing isn't drying. I made them this morning and they're still wet now in the late afternoon. I probably did something wrong, I just don't know what... The taste is nice though, added a little less sugar in the icing but it's still very sweet!

Just like how my mum used to make them in Australia!

LOVE THEM, LOVE THEM!

These cookies were a hit at a going-away party for a friend who is moving 'Down Under.' Delicious and relatively simple, although a bit labor-intensive with all the dipping and coating at the end. I found that the glaze did tend to cool too quickly and had to microwave it a couple times while I was coating the cookies.

This recipe was yummy and fairly easy to make. The only problem was how crumbly the cake was when I was trying to coat it in chocolate. I would suggest, and did use Dixie cups. I put the little piece of cake in, and then poured the icing on top, along with the coconut shreads.

they tasted really good but the cake started to fall apart when I dipped it in the icing so I just poured it on top and it worked well!!

I made these today! They are delicious! I come from Greece so I am not familiar to them. I did a few alterations which worked: I added a little corn flour instead of flour (about the 1/2 of cup), some brandy (cogniac) 1 teaspoon and a little des. coconut in the cake. I also put only 2 teaspoons of baking powder. For the frosting, I only put 3 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of cocoa and 1 teaspoon of cogniac. I don't know how much different is the original recipe to this alteration.

This recipe was great, although after leaving it uncovered for the night like one reviewer suggested, I couldn’t put a fork into it (if I had it would’ve crumbled), so instead I used a spoon to spread the icing onto the lamington (which I held in my other hand), which worked great. There was also way more coconut than needed.