Lamington Pops & Raspberry dipping sauce

Lamington Pops & Raspberry Dipping sauce

There are a few stories about the origins of the Lamington. In Australia we believe that we “invented” the humble Lamington, but  there is no record of us ever being the first country in the world to bake them. It is a classically good combination. Cake, usually a plain sponge or buttercake, chocolate and coconut.

Many countries around the world have their own version of our Lamington. One of the cutest versions is in South Africa where their  name translated means, little Porcupines. Sweet.

One thing is for sure, we love them here and even have our own Lamington Day on July 21st each year. ( Beat that all you other countries). Lamingtons are so much a part of our lives that most of us have grown up eating them at school canteens, fetes, cake shops and now….sadly, even from the supermarket. ( Please go and get a nice one…..)

As a kid Dad would sometimes bring home a bag of Lamingtons from Healy’s bakery in our town. This was usually after he had had his 20th call to go and fix their TV (he was a whizz at fixing them). The poor things were so grateful they showered him with Lamington love.  Mum coveted the cream filled ones, but I just liked the plain ones. They also made a pink version, but that was never my favourite, it was too sweet. They were a staple of the school for some, but we weren’t allowed canteen food so sometimes we’d pool our money to buy one of the monster sized ones and spend recess shuffling it between mouths. These industrially made blocks of dry cake never had the right ratio of chocolate and coconut to cake, but that didn’t stop us.

I have re-hashed these little Lamingtons from the archives, from a time when only my sisters were reading My Kitchen Stories. If you have seen them before then you truly must be coming up to a My Kitchen Stories appreciation award. ( Let me know)  This has got to be the perfect way to eat a Lamington.  The ratio of chocolate and coconut to cake is almost equal..mmm nice. The raspberry dipping sauce just makes them even more irresistible

The better the chocolate coating the better the Lamington too. I adore my coconut toasted. What about you?

The best thing about these is you can make them a day or two ahead and keep them in the fridge till you need them, although strictly speaking fresh is best with a Lamo. If you don’t have sticks just put them all on one plate and serve with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

Lamington Pops with dipping sauce

These make a great small canape dessert or snack. This recipe uses Australian Cup sizes

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Course Dessert

Servings 24

Ingredients

  

• 150 gm butter softened unsalted
• 150 gm caster sugar fine
• 2 whole large eggs 70 gm
• 200 gm plain flour 1 1/4 cups
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 180 ml milk

Chocolate Icing

• 250 gm pure icing sugar 2 cups
• 50 gm cocoa dark dutch
• 50 gm butter unsalted
• 250 ml water boiling (1 cup )
• 2 cup desiccated coconut toasted and add 1/4 of long thread coconut for texture

Raspberry Dipping Sauce

• 200 gm Raspberries frozen (1 cup)
• 100 gm caster sugar 1/2 cup
• 40 ml water 2 tablespoons

Instructions

 

• Use a square 26 x 19 cm or 10 x 7 inch tin. Line with baking paper.
• Set the oven to 170 C or 340 F
• Beat the butter and sugar until light in colour and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beat well.
• Sift the flour and baking powder. Add 1/2 the flour mixture along with 1/2 the milk, mix well and add the remaining flour and milk. Spread into cake tin
• Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.
• Cool the cake completely ( cool and refrigerate till cold) and cut into small even sized pieces

Icing

• Mix the sifted icing sugar with the cocoa. Break the butter into tiny pieces and drop on top of the sugar mixture. Pour over the boiling water and whisk until combined.
• Cool . Set up a bowl with the icing, a flat tray or plate with the coconut and a container tor platter to put them on. Dip the pieces of cake quickly into the chocolate icing, so that they dont absorb too much icing and become soggy, and then roll in toasted coconut

Sauce

• Put the sugar water and raspberries into a saucepan on low heat.
• Heat the mixture stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved and the raspberries are heated through and defrosted. ( taste for sweetness, it does need to be a little tart)
• Puree the sauce in a food processor or blender to make a smooth sauce

To make the cake pops

• Refrigerate the Lamingtons for 2-3 hours or till firm.
• You will need approx 24 thick bamboo food picks available from party shops.
• Melt 100 gm of dark chocolate .
• Dip the food pick into the chocolate and slide into the Lamington, so that the Lamington has it's longest side on the stick and holds on well. If yours are square then any side will do!. . Continue with all of the Lamingtons and refrigerate till firm.
• The Lamingtons will keep fresh and ready to go for a couple of days in a sealed container in the fridge. Serve room temperature.
• After 2-3 days they will not taste as great as in the first day they are made.
• Go ahead and eat these Lamingtons without sticks too!

Check out these Mango Lamingtons too.