Lovely lamingtons

A beautiful lamington really is one of the best treats to sit down with and enjoy with a cuppa. This recipe produces a lovely fluffy sponge cake on the inside, while the rich chocolate icing makes the perfect partner in crime. Finished with a dusting of coconut, the whole thing sounds almost too good to be true, but trust us – it’s delicious!

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup(150g) caster sugar
• 1 cup(150g) self-raising flour
• 1/4 cup(35g) cornflour
• 25 gsoft butter, chopped
• 1/3 cup(80ml) boiling water
• 3 cups(270g) desiccated coconut

Chocolate icing

• 4 2/3 cups(750g) icing sugar mixture
• 1/2 cup(50g) cocoa powder
• 20 gsoft butter
• 3/4 cup(180ml) milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and flour a 20cm x 30cm lamington pan, line base with baking paper. Beat eggs in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light in colour. Gradually add sugar; beat for 8 minutes or until the mixture is thick. Mixture should form thick ribbons when the beaters are lifted.

2. Meanwhile, sift flour and cornflour together three times. Combine butter and boiling water in a small heatproof bowl.
Transfer egg mixture to a large bowl. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture; using a balloon whisk or a large metal spoon, gently fold the flour into the egg mixture, then fold in the butter mixture.

3. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes or until sponge springs back when touched lightly in the centre and comes away from side of pan. Turn cake onto a wire rack to cool. Cut cake into 20 even pieces

4. Meanwhile, to make chocolate icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a large heatproof bowl; add the butter and milk; stir over a medium saucepan of simmering water until icing is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Divide icing mixture into 2 small bowls. Place coconut in a shallow bowl.

5. Using a large fork, dip each piece of cake briefly into icing until cake is coated in icing. Hold over bowl to drain off any excess. Dip half the cake pieces in one bowl of icing and the other half in the second bowl of icing. If the icing becomes too thick, stand it over hot water while dipping, or reheat gently with a little more milk. If necessary, strain the icing into a clean bowl. Toss cake gently in coconut. Transfer cake to a wire rack; stand until set.

—————————————————–

If you’d like to see more recipes from Starts at 60, click here. And if you have a recipe you’d like to share with the Starts at 60 community – we’d love to share it! Submit them to us by completing the form below.

Submit your article here