Lamington (Chocolate-Coconut Sponge Squares)

Name: Lamington (Chocolate-Coconut Sponge Squares)
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 125g Butter, softened; 150g Caster sugar; 3 Eggs; 225g Self-raising flour; 125ml Milk; 5ml Vanilla extract; 300g Icing sugar (powdered sugar); 40g Cocoa powder; 20g Butter (for icing), melted; about 125ml Boiling water; 200g Desiccated coconut

Australia's national cake: squares of soft sponge dunked in a thin chocolate icing, then rolled in desiccated coconut so every side wears a snowy, chocolatey coat.

Fuente

Receta de Australian home baking · 🏺 Tradicional · A classic of the Australian country-show and CWA baking tradition

Australian home baking — The lamington is often linked to Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland around 1900, and his household kitchen. It became a staple of Australian home baking, church fundraisers and school 'lamington drives', and has its own unofficial national day on 21 July.

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Watch it being made · 3 videos

The Cooking Foodie CupcakeJemma Sezzy Brown

⏱ 90 min🍽 4 porciones🔥 240 kcal🇦🇺 Australia

Vegetariano

Pasos

Heat the oven to 180°C and line a square 20cm tin. Beat the softened butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, 3–4 minutes.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Fold in the flour and milk in alternating batches until just smooth.
Spread into the tin and bake 22–25 minutes, until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely in the tin.
Ideally, wrap the cooled sponge and leave it overnight, or freeze it for an hour before cutting.
💡 Day-old (or briefly frozen) sponge is firmer and far less crumbly — fresh, soft cake falls apart the moment it hits the wet icing. This one step saves most beginners' lamingtons.
Trim the edges and cut the sponge into even squares, about 5cm each.
Make the icing: sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl, add the melted butter, then whisk in enough boiling water to make a smooth, thin, glossy icing that coats a spoon but drips off freely.
Tip the coconut into a wide shallow bowl. Set a wire rack over a tray at the end of your line.
Using two forks, dip a sponge square into the icing and turn to coat all six sides, letting the excess drip back.
💡 Two forks (or a dipping fork) keep your fingers clean and stop you squashing the soft cube. Work one square at a time so it doesn't sit and go soggy.
Drop the iced square straight into the coconut and roll until every side is coated, then lift onto the rack.
Repeat with the rest, re-thinning the icing with a splash of hot water if it thickens as it cools.
Leave the lamingtons on the rack for at least 1 hour so the icing sets firm before serving.

💡 Consejos

Beginner's mistake: dipping fresh, warm sponge in runny icing. It disintegrates. Always use firm day-old or part-frozen cake, and keep the icing thin but not watery.
Short on time? A bought plain sponge or pound cake, cut into cubes, makes perfectly good lamingtons — the icing-and-coconut coat is where the flavour is.
For 'lamington fingers', slice the squares and sandwich them with a little raspberry jam and whipped cream before or after coating — a common Australian bakery version.