cupcakes and corks: roo's lamingtons

When I got an email from one of the world class hotels here in Vail regarding "Lamingtons," I wasn't sure how to react. Do I make them? Definitely not. Was I willing to make them for the Australian hotel guests for the upcoming Australia Day? Absolutely. Give me a task that involves cake and frosting, and I will do it, and do it well.
After googling lamingtons, I discovered that they are a traditional Aussie dessert usually found in bakeries, coffee shops, cafes and especially at school bake sales. There are even such things as "lamington drives" to raise money for community causes. There are all sorts of Lamingtons. The classic lamington is vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate frosting, rolled in dessicated coconut. The more elevated lamington involves a strawberry jam and lemon cream filling. There are even blood orange lamingtons, found in New Zealand. As I started out on my lamington adventure, I found that the average lamington cake recipe is very similar to the batter cupcakes vanilla cupcake recipe. By starting off with one element that was familiar, the whole process seemed less intimidating.

the order was for 3 dozen lamingtons, so I made enough cake batter for 3 dozen cupcakes

after cooking the cake batter in a medium sized sheet pan for about 25 minutes, it was cooked all the way through to the middle


letting the cake cool for at least 15 minutes, I ensured that the cake wouldn't stick to the pan upon release

I measured the squares to be approx. 2"x2" with a measuring tape, and then cut the squares with a pizza cutter. I was first going to cut 36 squares from the cake, but then realized that the pan was too shallow, so I needed to double up on the layers. Instead, I measured the cake to yield 72 squares instead so each lamington would have 2 layers.

the classic lamington recipe calls for chocolate frosting, but my version of frosting on a cupcake is way different than a lamington frosting. The ratio of butter to sugar to cocoa was boldly different - almost a glaze. During research I found that some were reminded of a chocolate glazed donut when eating a lamington. I can now see why. The powdered sugar found in the frosting makes the lamington what it is.

classic lamingtons call for dessicated coconut, or unsweetened. I had a hard time finding unsweetened coconut shavings in our little mountain town, so I settled for sweetened coconut shavings.

I placed the cake squares on top of a cooling rack, with a pan underneath because the process was messy and gooey. I couldn't drop the cake squares directly into the pot of chocolate because the cake would flake off into the chocolate. I slowly coated each piece of cake, on all 6 sides, then rolled the chocolatey cake in the coconut.