Lamingtons! An Aussie Treat Like No Other

Let me give you a bit of history on the humble Lamington (my absolute favourite afternoon tea treat)… the myth goes Lady Lamington (a British ex-pat) despised wasting cake. In a hot dry climate, before the days of air conditioning and insulation, most cake turned into rock a few hours after you’d taken it out of the oven. Someone (this fact is shrouded in mystery) decided rolling the cake in moist chocolate sauce then rolling it all in coconut (traditionally using two knitting needles to hold it) was a great way to keep a cake tasting soft and fresh for days. I can tell you, whoever that mystery person was, they were right! And the birth of a nation’s iconic cake was born…

Ingredients for Cake:
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
pinch salt
tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups sr flour
1/2 cup milk

Ingredients for icing:
2 cups icing sugar
1 big tablespon butter
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
approx 3 cups of coconut

Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in the flour and milk. Pour into a greased lamington tin and bake for approx 30 mins on 180 C.
When cool cut into squares.
Icing: Mix the ingredients except coconut with boiling water until quite thin. Coat the cake squares in icing then roll in coconut. Leave on a plate to set. Enjoy. Especially with tea. If possible, find a CD with the sounds of kookaburras laughing and play softly on continuous loop in the background.