Why you are cooking this tonight
The lamington is the small square of vanilla sponge dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut that every Australian school canteen, every CWA stall and every Saturday morning market has been selling since the 1890s. It is a dessert, it is a snack, it is the thing your grandmother made for fundraisers. It travels well in a tin, it keeps for a week, and it is the best thing you can make for an afternoon tea that needs to look effortless.
The proper lamington is sponge, not butter cake. The sponge has to be firm enough to hold up to a chocolate-icing dunk without collapsing, which means bake the day before, cut it cold, and freeze the cubes for 20 minutes before dipping. The sponge drinks just enough icing and stops there.
The jam version (split, fill with raspberry jam and cream) is a Queensland thing. The plain version is everywhere else. Both are correct. Neither is better.
Notes on method
Make the sponge the day before. Freeze the cut cubes briefly. Work quickly with the icing: it thickens as it sits. Roll immediately in coconut while wet.
What to pour with it
Milky billy tea or good proper coffee. If you are serving these with a drink, try a small glass of Rutherglen muscat.
Starward Two-Fold Whisky
Australian whisky with an Australian biscuit. Caramel meets coconut.
Read more →
Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
Or Mr Black for a cold-brew finish. Coffee, chocolate, coconut.
Read more →The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced. Grease and line a 20x30cm slice tin.
- Whisk eggs and sugar on high until pale, thick and tripled in volume (about 8 minutes). Add vanilla.
- Sift flour over the eggs in thirds, folding gently with a spatula. Combine melted butter and warm milk, fold in last.
- Pour into tin. Bake 22-25 minutes until sponge springs back. Cool in tin 10 min, turn out to cool fully. Wrap and chill overnight.
- Trim sponge edges. Cut into 16 squares. Put cubes on a tray in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a heatproof bowl. Stir in butter and boiling water until smooth. Sit bowl over simmering water to keep liquid.
- Spread coconut in a wide shallow tray. Using two forks, dip each frozen cube in icing, letting excess drip off, then roll in coconut. Place on a wire rack to set.
- Leave to set for 30 min before serving. Keeps in an airtight container for 5 days.
Nutrition
Two things that go wrong
Your sponge was too fresh.
Fresh sponge falls apart when you dip it. The cubes need to be cold and ideally a day old — drier, firmer, and able to handle a chocolate dunk. Bake the sponge the day before. Or freeze cubes for 20 minutes if you’re rushed.
Your icing was too thick.
Stiff chocolate icing won’t coat properly — you’ll end up with bald patches and uneven coverage. Keep the icing warm over a bowl of hot water and add a teaspoon of boiling water if it firms up.
Variations worth knowing
- Jam and creamSlice each lamington in half horizontally and fill with raspberry jam and whipped cream. The Queensland version. Defensible.
- Salted caramelReplace cocoa with salted caramel sauce in the icing. Roll in coconut as normal.
- Mini lamingtonsCut the sponge into 2cm cubes for canapé-sized lamingtons. A platter of these at a barbecue is a winner.
Leftovers and make ahead
Lamingtons keep 5 days in an airtight tin and freeze beautifully for 3 months. Pull from freezer, thaw at room temp for 30 minutes. The freezer trick: dip and freeze before serving, lets you make weeks in advance. Stale ones: crumble over ice cream with extra coconut.