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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.




Healthy Lamingtons for Australia Day

Add caption
Make healthy lamingtons the easy way.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been mixing and baking in my kitchen in an effort to create the perfect lamington just in time for Australia Day. You will absolutely love my recipe – so simple, gluten free and made from fresh whipped organic eggs, coconut flour, vanilla and raspberry that make them purely delicious.

 I’ve coated my lamingtons with a thin layer of dark chocolate ganache that I’ve made using a quality dark courveture 70 – 85 % mixed with a little coconut water or alternatively coconut milk for a creamier ganache. 

The secret to coating your lamingtons is to lightly spread the chocolate gananche thinly and delicately over the raspberry cake – then lightly dip in your coconut. Be gentle – make them with love and you’ll have the most delicious lamingtons you’ve ever tasted.

What’s good about them:
I’ve used macadamia nut oil to make the cake which works really well with baking - giving it a lovely buttery flavour. The oil is also an anti-inflammatory fat, that is kind to your arteries and can support good health and wellbeing. If you want this cake to be nut free make sure to use a good cold pressed coconut oil, butter or olive oil instead. I’ve used coconut flour mainly to make it gluten free and nut free so it’s kind to sensitive digestive systems – Coconut flour also doesn’t give you that high blood sugar / insulin spike that you can often get with refined white flours. 

Raspberries are high in antioxidants which can help to neutralise free radicals, they also marry perfectly with the dark chocolate making them taste amazing. Dark chocolate contains magnesium, iron and antioxidants and also contains compounds that act as stimulants believed to boost serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain – responsible for feelings of wellbeing and feeling great !

Makes 25 purely delicious lamingtons

Lamington Cake:
6 organic / free range eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons raw honey or sweetener of your choice (organic maple syrup, few drops stevia etc)
1/4 cup (60 ml / 2 fl oz) macadamia nut oil or your choice of (cold pressed coconut oil,
butter or olive oil)
1/2 cup ( 70 g / 2 1/2 oz) coconut flour (see notes)
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1 cup (150 g / 5 1/4 oz) fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup (75 g / 2 1/2 oz) shredded or desiccated coconut for rolling

Chocolate ganache:
100 g (3 1/2 oz) good quality dark eating chocolate 70 % cocoa – finally chopped
60 ml (1/4 cup / 2 fl oz) coconut milk

Preheat your oven to 160 C / 320 F.
Whip the eggs, vanilla and honey for 10 minutes until light and creamy.
Pour in the macadamia nut oil with the eggs still whipping and mix well.
Add the coconut flour and baking powder and mix until combined.
Pour lamington cake mix into a square 22 cm baking tin lined completely with baking paper.
Sprinkle the raspberries evenly over the top.
Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until cooked through.
Cool for 30 minutes before lifting out from the tin to completely cool.
Divide cake into 25 mini squares.

Make your chocolate ganache:
Heat the coconut water or coconut milk if in a small pan until almost boiling. Turn off the heat.
Add the chocolate and stir it through the coconut until you have a smooth silky ganache.
Spread each square of lamington with a little chocolate ganache very lightly and thinly with a small knife on all sides.
Roll in coconut and place onto a tray lined with baking paper to set.

Enjoy.

These delicious lamingtons will keep covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Notes + Inspiration
You can get coconut flour from most good health food stores.



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