Lamingtons

A popular delicacy in Australia, lamingtons are cubes of butter sponge cake coated with melted chocolate and rolled in coconut. Often these little cakes include a layer of jam, as in the recipe below.

And if you happen to be in Australia on July 21, be sure to enjoy a cake or two as it’s National Lamington Day there.

Lamingtons were the Technical Bake for Cake Week in Season 5 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Lamingtons

Ingredients

Raspberry Jam:

• 1 ½ cups (190 g) raspberries
• ½ cup plus 2 tbsp (125 g) granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch kosher salt

Butter Sponge Cake:

• 2 eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter, cubed
• ¾ cup whole milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1¾ cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp (21 g) cornstarch
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp kosher salt

Chocolate Glaze:

• 1¼ cups (205 g) semi-sweet chocolate callets (54%)
• ½ cup (43 g) cocoa powder
• 1½ cups 35% cream
• ¼ cup white corn syrup
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 3 to 4 tbsp boiling hot water

Coating:

• 4 cups (340 g) unsweetened medium desiccated coconut

Preparation

Raspberry Jam:

Combine the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, mashing and stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce to a rolling simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon, 6 to 8 minutes. 

Press half a portion of the jam through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing on the solids. Stir in the remaining jam to make ½ cup. Set aside to cool completely.

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Mist an 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, then line with parchment paper. Lightly mist the parchment with cooking spray and set aside. 

Set the bowl of a stand mixer over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk the eggs, egg whites and sugar in the bowl until the mixture reaches 120 F. Place the bowl back on the stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on medium-high for 5 minutes. Continue to whisk on medium until the egg mixture has tripled in volume, about 6 minutes.

Heat the butter and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the butter melts and bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

Scrape the egg mixture into an extra-large bowl. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture, gently folding until almost homogeneous. Whisk one-quarter of the cake batter into the butter mixture until homogenous, then add the mixture back into the rest of the batter and gently fold in until no streaks remain. 

Pour the batter on the prepared baking sheet and spread it out evenly using an offset spatula. Tap the baking sheet on a work surface a few times to eliminate large air bubbles. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched and the edges pull away from the pan.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Slide the parchment and cake onto another cooling rack to slightly cool for a few minutes. 

Place a cooling rack over the cake, hold the top and bottom racks together, and flip. Remove the top rack, peel off the parchment and invert the cake back onto the other cooling rack, right side up. Let cool completely. 

Chocolate Glaze:

Place the chocolate and cocoa in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until just hot. 

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and cocoa, and let stand for one minute. Whisk in corn syrup, salt and enough hot water to make a glaze that is smooth yet thick enough to coat the cake. Strain the glaze into a bowl and let cool. 

Cake Assembly: 

Place the coconut in an 8- or 9-inch baking pan. 

Cut the butter sponge cake in half crosswise. Spread the jam evenly on top of one half of the sponge, then place the remaining butter sponge on top of the jam layer. Measure and cut into 20 2-inch squares, trimming where necessary. 

Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet. 

Using a fork, dip one cake square into the chocolate glaze to coat all sides. Lightly scrape off excess chocolate and tap the fork on the edge of the bowl, letting the extra glaze drip off the cake.

Gently roll the cake in coconut to cover all sides, transfer to a cooling rack and let set, about 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining cake, chocolate glaze and coconut.

Makes 20 lamingtons