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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.




How to cook Lamingtons - easily and quickly


The lamington
True blue Lamington recipe - easy to prepare and quick to make.

Learn how to cook the traditional Australian Lamingtons.

Quantity: 15 Makes lamingtons
Prep Time: day 1, 15 minutes day 2, 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 18 minutes





 Ingredients
For the sponge cake
3 tablespoons self-raising flour
1⁄4 cup plain flour
2 tablespoon cornflour
3 eggs
pinch of salt
1⁄2 cup caster sugar
3 teaspoon boiling water

For the chocolate icing
2 cups icing sugar
1⁄3 cup cocoa powder
1⁄2 cup boiling water
1 3⁄4 cup desiccated coconut

Preparation
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C. Lightly grease a deep 28 x 18 cm lamington pan with melted butter and line the base and sides of the pan with non-stick baking paper, allowing a 5 cm overhang (this makes it easier to remove the sponge from the pan).

2 Sift the two flours and cornflour together. Repeat the sifting process five times (this will aerate the flour thoroughly).

3 Using an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and salt in a large mixing bowl for 6 minutes, or until pale and thick. Gradually add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until the mixture is thick and the sugar is dissolved.

4 Sift the combined flour mixture over the egg mixture. Add the boiling water and gently fold in until the batter is just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 15–18 minutes, or until cooked through when tested with a skewer. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Cover with foil and stand overnight.

5 Lift the cake from the pan. Trim the edges and cut the sponge into 5 cm squares.

To make the chocolate icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a medium heatproof bowl. Stir in the boiling water and mix well to combine.

6 Place the coconut in a medium bowl. Using two forks, dip the sponge squares, one at a time, into the warm icing and then roll in the coconut. (If the icing begins to thicken, place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until it is warm and thin again.)

7 Place the lamingtons on a wire rack lined with non-stick baking paper for 1 hour to set.

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