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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 put weight on: Eat Lamington ice cream

Lamington Ice Cream.
Maureen McCormick's Michael Jackson revelations are only the tip of the iceberg, according to her I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! jungle mate, Tyson Mayr.

Mayr, a model and professional travel blogger, was voted out of the jungle on Sunday night but said he was keen to catch up with McCormick on the outside to hear more of her stories.

The Brady Bunch actress revealed on the show that she dated Michael Jackson when she was a teenager.

"Who drops that in a conversation? I mean who are you speaking with that they just casually dropped `I dated Michael Jackson'," Mayr told AAP on Monday.

However, he said he wasn't too surprised by McCormick's revelations and knows the actress has a lot more up her sleeve.

"I've had quite a few conversations with Maureen where you can tell she's holding back on things and you can tell she wants to share something but she doesn't want to make it public," he said.

Mayr, who has picked McCormick and Chrissie Swan as his favourites to win the reality show, says he can't wait to catch up with the American actress to hear more of her tales off camera.

"She's told me she does have more stories and she can't wait to share them," he said.

During the interview, Mayr admitted he was getting stuck into some Tim Tams as he gets to work putting back on the 8kg he lost in the jungle.

"I pretty much asked for two of whatever is available so they brought me chicken parmigiana, hamburger, lamington ice cream, meatballs, turkey. I pretty much had a buffet in front of me," he said.

"I've got to put that weight back on."

But one person who won't be digging in to the Tim Tams on his release is Merv Hughes. While the others are desperately trying to eat more food, Mayr said Hughes has been trying his best to lose even more weight.

"Merv wants to stay in there for another six months, he's losing weight, he's got abs sticking out, he can see his bottom ribs, he's seeing things he hasn't seen for a few years," he said.

"He's trying to reduce his meals. When the meals do increase he's trying to actually give them away a little bit," Mayr said.

"He's doing fantastic and good for him. I hope he can continue to add that to his lifestyle afterwards."

Mayr is dating The Bachelor contestant Lisa Hyde and said that he now plans to go on double dates with that other Bachelor couple, Anna Heinrich and Tim Robards - his fellow jungle mates.

"Anna is actually good friends with my girlfriend. I think they've done quite a few events together and have mutual friends and have become friends in recent times," he said.

"We have a few things planned (the two couples). We have a few overseas activities, perhaps a few overseas trips and perhaps even a few projects, so it will be fun."

But for now, Mayr is busy with those Tim Tams as he prepares to Skype Hyde for the first time since he left.

"I missed my family, friends and Lisa the most while I was in there," he said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-2985835/McCormick-tales-says-Tyson-Mayr.html#ixzz3Tsajspav 

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