Lamingtons
CHOCOLATE, RASPBERRY & COCONUT
Sandwiched together with sticky-sweet raspberry jam, dunked in glossy chocolate icing, and covered with coconut.
Ingredients
500 g unsalted butter , (at room temperature), plus extra for greasing
250 g self-raising flour , plus extra for dusting
250 g golden caster sugar
5 large free-range eggs
100 ml milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking powder
250 g quality dark chocolate , (70%)
100 g icing sugar
300 g desiccated coconut
1 x 340 g jar of quality raspberry jam
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Grease two 25cm x 35cm baking trays with sides, line the bases with greaseproof paper, then dust lightly with flour.
For the sponges, beat 250g of the butter and all the golden caster sugar together until very light and fluffy. One-by-one, beat in the eggs, followed by the milk and vanilla extract, then sift and fold in the flour and baking powder.
Divide cake mixture between the prepared tins and spread out evenly, then bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden, risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool slightly in the tins, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
For the icing, sieve the icing sugar into a heatproof bowl. Snap in the chocolate, roughly chop and add the remaining butter, then melt over a pan of simmering water, stirring regularly until glossy. Pour the dessicated coconut onto a flat tray.
Once cooled, spread the jam over one of the cakes, then place the second cake on top. Carefully slice into 4cm squares – you should end up with 54 in total.
To decorate, get a little production line going – dip a square of cake into the chocolate icing, turning to coat all the sides. Place the chocolate dipped sponge onto a wire rack to allow excess chocolate to drip off, then coat with the coconut, returning to the wire rack to set.
Repeat with the remaining cakes, then once set, tuck in!