While poking around the Australian sites looking into the origins of Fairy Bread, we stumbled upon another intriguing Australian delicacy. It's called a lamington...or possibly a lemmington...but in either case, we think this dessert that needs to jump the oceans and get into our kitchen!
A lamington is an individual square of yellow sponge cake coated in thick chocolate glaze and then rolled in coconut. Some fancier versions are also layered with whipped cream or play around with the flavor of the glaze. The reference website Wisegeek calls these little cakes the Australian equivalent of the American brownie - we're guessing in terms of its place in the social hierarchy of desserts, not for their composition!
The origins of the cake are unclear. It's possible they came from either Scotland or New Zealand, where the local sheep population provided inspiration for the coconut-covered dessert.
Another popular story says that a guest a dinner party being thrown by Lord Lammington dropped his sponge cake in gravy and when he threw it out, it landed in a bowl of coconut. Another diner, one Agnes Lovelightly, put two and two together and thought of dipping the cake in chocolate and topping it with coconut.
More likely, the desserts were simply a clever way for bakers to use up leftover sponge cake. We love Sarah's description on the I Ate Brisbane blog of standing over the sink or stepping into the backyard to eat Lamington Cakes where the crumbs won't make a mess!
• My Favorite Lamington from I Ate Brisbane
Curious to try this dessert for yourself? We might not find lamingtons in bakeries here in the US, but we can certainly make them at home!
• Lamingtons Layered with Jam from Martha Stewart
• Lamingtons from Joy of Baking
• Pink Lamingtons from Tea Rose Lane
How do you like your lamingtons?
Related: Traditional British Recipe: Eccles Cakes
(Image: Martha Stewart)
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Forget lamingtons ... look at pavlova. Meringue and seasonal berries. What's not to love??
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7271/classic pavlova
You say Lamington, I say Petit Four.
My mom makes these for just about every major family event, and they are delicious. They actually are rather different than petit fours, because the glaze doesn't coat them like an icing, but soaks in a little. It's grainier and wetter than the coating on petit fours. It soaks into the cake to a depth of about a quarter inch, and so you get a bite of coconut, chocolate-soaked cake, then tender white cake in the middle. Totally yummy. (And work intensive!)
http://deliciousdeliciousdelicious.blogspot.com/
This blog has tons of really cool lamington receipes. I just discovered these and they are so fun.
enjoy!
My Croatian grandma makes these all the time, but we call them Čupavci! Wonder how that happened...
Whenever I visit Hong Kong I always stop by Starbucks and order a lemon lamington. Delicious, silky moist lemon cake with a lemon glaze covered in coconut. Not too sweet. Mmm.
I'm pretty sure the correct name is Lemmiwinks.
Oh Lammingtons. They are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE dessert ever! Pavlova is also amazing. I got fat in Australia with all those delicious desserts around! I just wish they weren't so tough/time consuming to make!
I think the key to eating lamingtons is to eat them warmed and sliced in half, with a generous helping of whipped cream and some genre of berry jam in the middle. If the cream doesn't float your boat, at least add the jam. You don't have to add it before baking like in Martha's recipe (I imagine that would be fine if you're going to eat them all at once), but if you're storing them, add the jam to each one as you go, so the jam doesn't soak into the sponge too much.
Here in NZ some fancy cafes serve them with the cream and jam for a whopping $5 a piece, but at the local corner bakery you can probably pick one up for about $1.50 and then take it home and add the condiments yourself.
Yum.
Wow, I am surprised to hear that lamingtons are not a global treat. You really do learn something every day. We used to make these at primary school to fundraise for events. Chocolate > raspberry. :p
There must be a layer of jam involved somewhere for lamington perfection!
They are certainly called lamingtons with an 'A' and are considered pretty old fashioned. I'm pretty sure every Australian child has sold them at school to raise money at some point in their lives - in a Lamington Drive. I'm completely amazed that this is a new food for you! Often they are coated in jam before they're dipped in the chocolate. I also think they would rock the american market. Have you seen Anzac Biscuits.... another great Aussie sweet!
Yum! Am thoroughly enjoying the detour into Aussie foods, and also how mystifying they seem to people that haven't grown up with them - much like some of the intriguing things I've only ever seen in the US (icebox pies spring to mind). Definitely lamingtons with a "a" - lemmings belong in pies. With meringue...
http://horacek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/dec18-lemming-meringues350.png
Sorry, just couldn't help myself...
I don't actually like lamingtons that much - ate too many stale ones when I was little - but thinking about them makes me homesick!
Happily, New Yorkers can indeed find fresh and fluffy lamingtons at the Down Under Bakery pie shop in Brooklyn, along with other baked sweet treats and a full range of traditional meat and veggie pies. Also, you can order them for delivery. Yum!
http://www.dubpies.com/
Lamingtons, yum. Named after Lord Lamington, the story is here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10467101
I like mine cream filled, or cut in half and spread with honey, or just by themselves. Delicious.