“Poofy, woolly biscuits.” That’s what Baron Lamington, Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901, purportedly called the chocolate glazed, coconut-covered vanilla tea cakes that bear his name. First created and served to Lamington sometime during his tenure, the cakes would take Australia by storm, becoming as culinarily iconic there as Weet-Bix and Vegemite.
Affectionately called “lammos” by Australian natives, classic Lamingtons are made from either vanilla sponge or butter cake that’s been allowed to rest for a day before being cubed, dunked in chocolate sauce and rolled in finely grated unsweetened coconut. But fancy “glamington” renditions by bakers eager to gild the Lamington lily include everything from caramel tres leche versions to banana, chocolate raspberry and even pandan cakes.
Some bakers cut the cubes in half, adding a layer of jam or frosting in the middle. This hews to the earliest known printed version of the recipe, published in the December 17, 1900 edition of the Queensland Country Life, but the tiny cakes are very good, filling or not.
Our Lamingtons are made with Genoese sponge cake, baked in an 8-inch square pan, and finished as 1-inch cubes. To make them, you’ll bake and cool the sponge cake, storing it covered overnight, and then will prepare and cool the chocolate glaze until it has thickened a bit. To get perfect cubes, I cut off and discarded the dome of the baked cake and then flipped it over to expose the perfectly flat bottom side. Using a metal ruler I measured a grid and cut the cake into 1-inch squares. (Because 8-inch tins are tapered a bit, you’ll end up with a 7-inch grid and 35 finished cubes.) To glaze, I skewered each with a fork, fully dunked them into the chocolate, allowed excess to drip off and then rolled them in the coconut.
Ingredients
- FOR THE SPONGE CAKE:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup caster (superfine) sugar
- 2 ½ Tbsp butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE & COCONUT:
- 1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ Tbsp melted butter
- ¾ cup whole milk, warmed to room temperature
- 2 cups finely grated unsweetened coconut (Bob’s Red Mill)
Instructions
- MAKE SPONGE: With rack set at center position, preheat oven to 375F. Line an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan with two sheets of parchment paper, one lengthwise, one widthwise, leaving an inch of paper overhanging the edges all around. In a standing mixer with whisk attachment, whisk eggs and sugar until the mixture is very light in color and falls from the whisk in a thick ribbon. Remove bowl from mixer. Sprinkle the surface of the whipped egg/sugar with the sifted flour and using a rubber spatula, gently fold in. Pour the melted butter into the bowl and gently fold in again, just until incorporated. Pour the sponge into the prepared pan, set in preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until center springs back when lightly pressed. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 3 to 4 hours. Once cool, cover pan and allow cake to rest overnight.
- MAKE CHOCOLATE SAUCE: The next day, sift 1 lb. of confectioners’ sugar with ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder into a metal bowl OR into the top of a double boiler. Stir in the 1 ½ Tbsp melted butter and ¾ cup warmed milk. Heat a pot of water that can support the metal bowl OR heat the water in the bottom half of a double- boiler to boiling. Reduce to a simmer. Place the bowl OR top section of double boiler over simmering water and stir mixture until all is melted, and smooth. Remove from heat and completely cool. While chocolate sauce cools, cube sponge.
- CUBE SPONGE: Slice off and discard the dome of the baked cake. On a clean cutting board, flip cake over to expose the perfectly flat bottom side. Using a clean metal ruler, etch 1-inch grid lines on the cake with a knife. Follow the grid to cut the cake into 1-inch squares. (NOTE: Because 8-inch tins are tapered a bit on the sides, you’ll end up with a 7-inch grid and 35 finished cubes.)
- DIP AND COAT CAKE CUBES: Sprinkle coconut on a wide plate. Working one cake cube at a time, spear cake cube with a fork and completely immerse it in cooled chocolate sauce. Resting the side of the fork handle on the edge of the sauce pot to allow excess chocolate to drip off. Leaving cube on fork, roll four sides and bottom of coated cake cube in coconut. Sprinkle the top of the cube with more coconut. Slide the finished Lamington onto a wire rack to set up for several hours. Serve with tea or coffee.
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