Lamingtons

Lamingtons. We love them. Really love them. An iconic Australian cake, and popular with most Aussies.

In our house here in the UK, they are simply our favourites. I always have the idea to make a batch, keep a couple out to eat, and then freeze the rest so we can enjoy them for longer. It rarely happens as we just can't resist them!

Anyway, I am going to give you two cake recipes here - choose the one that suits you the best; they both make good lamingtons but one makes them egg and dairy free (& soya free if needed too) and the other is a standard sponge using egg and butter.
Regardless of the recipe you choose, the procedures are still the same.

Lamingtons
Makes approximately 20 cakes

Vanilla Cake

Ingredients:

150g butter, softened

200g caster sugar

125g plain flour

250g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

200ml milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg C and then line the bases of a 20 cm x 30cm tin with baking parchment.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy - this will take about 10 minutes so that it is very pale. This adds essential air into the mixture. Sift the flours, baking powder and bi-carb of soda together into another bowl

3. Add the eggs, one at a time into the mixture, beating well after each one. Adding a spoonful of the flour mixture helps prevent curdling.

4. Once all the eggs are incorporated, add the rest of the flour and mix gently until it is all just combined.

5. Pour in the milk and vanilla and mix slowly until it forms a batter consistency.

6. Gently measure equal amounts into the two tins, flatten it out very carefully and then cook for 20-25 mins. Check they are cooked by lightly touching the top- it should spring back. You can also insert a probe - if it comes out clean your cake is cooked.

7. Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tins. Tip out onto a baking rack to cool completely.


Egg/Dairy Free Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups self raising flour + 2 heaped tablespoons
1 cup caster sugar
pinch salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 cup water

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius. Grease and line a 20cm x 30cm tin with parchment paper.
2. Sift dry ingredients together.
3. Add wet ingredients and mix on high until smooth. Pour into the tin.
4. Bake for 20-25 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.


For both cakes, cool completely and then cut into 4cm x 4cm squares (approximately).

Coating

3 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar), sifted
3 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup milk (or soya/coconut/almond milk - any non dairy milk if choosing that option)
50 g unsalted butter (or dairy free alternative)
2 cups desiccated coconut - use 1 cup at a time.

1. Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a medium sized bowl.
2. Warm the milk gently in a small saucepan and add the butter. Stir until melted.
3. Add to the icing sugar and stir thoroughly to remove all lumps. The chocolate mixture should be runny - you might need to add more milk to make it thin enough to coat the cake without running off the sides completely. This takes a bit of trial and error to get right. You might need to try a cake square to gauge the consistency and adjust accordingly. If it is too runny, add a small amount of sifted icing sugar to thicken it. Be careful, only use a small amount at a time.
4. Using two forks, dip a cake square into the chocolate mixtures, coating completely. Lift and allow excess chocolate sauce to drip off the cake, then roll in the coconut, coating thoroughly on all sides.
5. Place onto a wire cooling rack - place some baking paper underneath to catch any drips. If your coating is too thick, you'll get more drips than if it is thinner and the excess has run off before adding the coconut.
6. Repeat for all cake squares.

Lamingtons are best eaten after being allowed to rest and set for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

This week I made one giant lamington cake for my husband -same principle but coating in chocolate required me to use a tray to soak it in the chocolate sauce. I made it a bit too runny, so the chocolate coating wasn't as thick or as sweet as it should have been.

This one is made with the vanilla cake recipe.

This is the vegan (egg and dairy free) cake.

These are an incredibly popular cake - I highly recommend giving them a go!

Kris x

Chocolate Bundt Cake

It's been a while since I blogged some of my recipes properly, so you my be inundated as I have been doing a lot of baking lately. This cake is one I made for my son's 6th birthday yesterday. I wanted something simple, but fun, that I could transport to a restaurant in London (on the train!) So it needed to be robust, but tasty.

This is the second time I have made this cake now, the first being for Halloween last month.

My bundt tins are new, my first from the Nordic Ware range and I've really enjoyed using them. For this type of tin, I think you need a fairly stable cake. This recipe, I have to say, is just delicious. It's a Martha Stewart one, and I know I will use it again and again.

Just a few notes for when you are using this recipe and this style of tin. For the Halloween 'pumpkin' cake, I made two cakes separately, trimmed the tops on both to make them flat and the 'sandwiched' them together with a simple orange buttercream in between. I topped that one with some passionfruit icing. The green 'stalk' is just an icecream cone painted with slightly watered down food colouring - I popped it back into a low temp oven to dry out. This is the 12 cup sized tin.

For the blue birthday cake, I used the smaller tin so I also had spare mixture which I used to make some cupcakes with. I didn't trim the top on this one, just turned it over and let it cool. The icing is just very simple, icing sugar and water and I tried out my new gel colours from ProGel. This was turquoise, although looks sky blue really. Still, it's nice to use the tubes to control the amount you use. You let it dry for a few minutes before sprinkling on the 100s & 1000s. This is the 6 cup sized tin.

This really is a delicious chocolate cake, not too sweet and if making it for a more grown up occasion, drizzling chocolate ganache over the top would be perfect.

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

•  1 cup (220g) unsalted butter, plus more for pan      
• 2 1/4 cups (320g) self-raising flour
• 3/4 cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1  1/2c (375mls)  milk (or milk alternative)
• 1 1/2 cups (350g) caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:                 

1. Make the cake: Preheat oven to 180degrees C. Butter and flour (or use a cake release) a 12-cup Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, and salt. 
3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla. If the egg mixture looks like it is having trouble combining properly, you can add a tablespoon of the flour mix to help it come together.
4. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined.
5. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top with an offset spatula.
6. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. (40 mins is using the smaller 6 cup tin).
7. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for about 10 mins in the tin, before tipping the cake onto the cooling rack. (Cake can be stored at room temperature, in an air tight container up to 7 days).

Give it a try and let me know if you make the cake!

Kris

UPDATE - May 2023: I quickly make this with King Charles III Coronation sprinkles tonight. Covered in a delicious chocolate ganache made with dark chocolate and Emlie Plant cream. This is just for my family.