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The Great Australian Lamington

The Great Australian Lamington
Lord Lamington Governor of Queensland - creator of the world-famous Australian Lamington.

The Humble Australian Lamington - Created in Queensland in 1901


Australian Lamington
THE WORLD-FAMOUS AUSTRALIAN CULINARY ICON NAMED AFTER THE GOVERNOR OF QUEENSLAND - LORD LAMINGTON.

The world-famous Australian lamington is over a century old.

Despite some dubious claims from New Zealand, the lamington is as Australian as meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars, ranking alongside the other true Australian icons of the pavlova, peach melba and Vegemite.

This Australian culinary icon, which consists of sponge cake dipped in chocolate and liberally sprinkled with fine desiccated coconut, was created through an accident at work by a maid-servant to Lord Lamington, the thoroughly-British eighth Governor of Queensland.

The maid-servant was working at Government House in Brisbane when she accidentally dropped the Governor's favourite sponge cake into some melted chocolate.

Lord Lamington was not a person of wasteful habits and suggested that it be dipped in coconut to cover the chocolate to avoid messy fingers.

Paul Tully celebrates
the 100th anniversary
of the world renowned
Australian lamington
on 19 December 2001
Lord Lamington devoured this new taste sensation with great delight and the maid-servant's error was proclaimed a magnificent success by all! The Governor however is on the record as calling them "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".

Lord Lamington was born in London, England on 29 July 1860 as Charles Wallace Alexander Napier COCHRANE-BAILLIE holding the aristocratic title of Baron Lamington.

He was Governor of Queensland from 9 April 1896 to 19 December 1901.

After leaving Queensland, he went on to become the Governor of Bombay in India for 4 years. He died at Lamington House, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1940.

According to Hansard page 728 at the Australian Constitutional Convention in Canberra on 11 February 1998, Cr Paul Tully, an elected delegate representing "Queenslanders for a Republic" suggested that his extensive research of the Governors of the 6 Australian colonies and states had produced evidence of only "one, single, solitary, positive achievement of any Governor since the First Fleet arrived in 1788" and that was Lord Lamington's contribution to the culinary delights of the Australian nation!

Lord Lamington served Queensland for 5 years but despite all of his colonial, aristocratic pomp and ceremony, the only thing which Charles Wallace Alexander Napier COCHRANE-BAILLIE will ever be remembered for in Australia is the creation of the world-famous lamington.

PAUL TULLY'S TRUE-BLUE DELICIOUS AUSSIE LAMINGTON RECIPE

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour 1/2 cup milk.

Beat the eggs well, gradually adding the sugar until dissolved. Add the milk and vanilla essence and then stir in the self raising flour and whip the butter into the mixture. Pour the mixture into a cake tin or lamington baking dish and bake in a moderate oven of 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes and then stand for 24 hours preferably in the refrigerator, before applying the icing.

THE CHOCOLATE ICING
4 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons boiling water
3 cups desiccated coconut.

Stir the cocoa and icing sugar vigorously in a large bowl, adding the milk, butter and boiling water, warming the chocolate mixture over a very low heat until it has a smooth creamy texture. Cut the sponge cake into equal squares about 5cm x 5cm and, using a fork or thin skewer, dip each piece into the chocolate mixture ensuring that the mixture is liberally and evenly applied. Dip each piece into the desiccated coconut, allowing the lamingtons to cool on a wire tray for several hours.

THEN SIT BACK, RELAX AND SAVOUR THE DELIGHTS OF YESTERYEAR COURTESY OF LORD LAMINGTON'S ABSENT-MINDED MAID-SERVANT!

THANK GOD, THE LAMINGTON WAS NOT CHRISTENED THE "COCHRANE-BAILLIE". IMAGINE ASKING FOR A "COCHRANE-BAILLIE" IN A CAKE SHOP!
© Paul Tully 2009


Do you have an interesting historical anecdote about the Australian lamington?
Please email the Australian Lamington Official Website.




The Lamington – the Australian icon which began in Queensland

The world-famous Australian lamington.
The early story which began in Brisbane of the humble Australian lamington.

The world-famous Australian icon, the Lamington, dates back to the beginning of our Aussie history – we explore the journey of the humble lamington.

The Lamington is as Australian as vegemite, Holden, the beach and a meat pie – but where did it come from?

There are plenty of claims across Australia, even New Zealand has attempted to take credit – but the lamington was born right here in Brisbane.

On the 19th December 1901, the maid-servant of Lord Lamington, the eighth Governor of Queensland, made a cooking mistake – a mistake that would make a mark on Australian cuisine forever.

She was working at the Government House in Brisbane, when she accidentally dropped Lord Lamington’s favourite sponge cake into melted chocolate.

But the Lord did not want to put it to waste, so he suggested rolling it in coconut to avoid the mess of the chocolate.

The end result? He was delighted – and that was how the Lamington was born, right here in Brisbane.

The modern lamington consists of a square, sponge cake, coated in a layer of chocolate icing then dusted with desiccated coconut.

Lamingtons have spread as far as Cleveland, Ohio and Los Angeles in the US. They are usually called ‘coconut bars’ with rum extract added to the chocolate icing. Lemon lamingtons as well as raspberry are common variants overseas.

In Australia, 21st July has been labelled as National Lamington Day. The National Trust of Queensland also labelled it as one of the state’s favourite icons.

The world’s biggest lamington was made in Toowoomba, which smashed the Guiness World Record when it was weighed at 1320kg.

It’s a dessert sold at fundraisers, served up at the family BBQ, and enjoyed in front of the television on a Sunday night – a true Aussie icon.

For a beautiful twist to your lamingtons, try out our Macadamia Chocolate Lamington recipe this Australia Day.

http://bmag.com.au/eating-and-drinking-in-brisbane/latest/2014/01/19/lamington-icon-began-brisbane/

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