Lamingtons are a popular dessert in Australia and New Zealand, consisting of vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate glaze and rolled in shredded coconut. There are various stories about their origin, and many variations of the recipe. They are not commonly found outside of Australia and New Zealand.
Lamingtons, sometimes called lemmingtons, are a hugely popular dessert in Australia. They are something of the modern equivalent of the American brownie. In Australia and New Zealand, you’ll find them on cake sales tables, in many bakeries, or served with afternoon tea. Kids might enjoy lamingtons as an after-school snack. They are essentially individual-sized squares or rectangles of vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate glaze and then rolled in shredded coconut.
There is some controversy regarding the origin of lamingtons. Some accounts state that this dessert was created when a piece of cake served at a Lord Lamington (Charles Wallace Bailey) dinner party was accidentally dipped in gravy. The diner who made the mistake threw the cake over his shoulder and it landed in a bowl of coconut.
Supposedly a diner named Agnes Lovelightly was struck by a sudden Gestalt moment, and conceived of a cake dipped in chocolate and then coconut. Another less colorful explanation was that a Lord Lamington cook created them to use leftover and slightly stale sponge cake. Some New Zealanders and Scottish residents claim that their country invented lamingtons first, but it’s safe to say that Australians and New Zealanders will likely serve them, while they’re not common in Scotland.
The simplest lamington is a square of cake dipped in a chocolate glaze, usually made with a little cocoa, water, and powdered sugar. While the icing is still wet, the cake is rolled in coconut. There are many variations on the traditional type. Bakeries in particular can make huge lamingtons, sometimes made up of more than one layer and filled in the center with whipped cream. The chocolate ganache can be replaced with plain chocolate icing if you want the result to be very rich.
Really, though, if you’re using stale cake, you should skip the ganache. The more watery chocolate glaze helps the cake perk up a bit and usually produces a better tasting lamington than the ganache, which is much oilier. You can find ways to modify the basic recipe at home, perhaps adding fruit between a layered lamington or varying the type of filling on a lamington sandwich pie. You will find numerous recipes online particularly if you visit Australian or New Zealand cooking sites.
You’ll have a hard time finding Lamington outside Australia or New Zealand. Most people make their own, and if they want to speed up the process, simply buy a vanilla sponge cake. They also buy lamingtons made from local bakeries or grocery stores, but a grocer in the US will likely wonder what he’s talking about if you request these pies. Since the cakes are already stale, they probably wouldn’t survive a trip long, unless flown by plane overnight. You can still purchase lamington cake mix, although any recipe for yellow or white sponge cake will do.
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