Rachel’s yummy Lamington cakes...

Australia Day came and went more than two weeks ago but if, for some unfathomable reason, you forgot to celebrate, fear not: find an excuse to pay homage to your favourite antipodeans. These traditional Australian lamington cakes are ideal for sharing with your loved ones, whether it be a boyfriend or girlfriend or your flat-mates afflicted with the late-night munchies.

Ingredients:

Sponge Cake:

220g caster sugar

125g butter

1tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

220g self-raising flour

120ml milk

Or (if those coursework deadlines are just a bit too imminent and you want your cake sooner rather than later) just use a light, store-bought sponge cake and skip to step 3.

Icing:

450g icing sugar

75g cocoa powder

75g butter (melted)

100g dessicated coconut

1. First, make the sponge cake. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until the mixture’s fluffy and then add the eggs one at a time with plenty of beating in between.
2. Add the flour and the milk a bit at a timewith plenty of stirring to make sure it combines properly. Bake the mixture in a 20cm square cake tin (or similar) at 180˚C for half an hour (or until a skewer comes out clean). Turn the cake out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
3. Now to make the icing. Mix the icing sugar and cocoa well and add the melted butter and around 75ml of boiling water until you’ve got a smooth, fairly runny consistency.
4. Slice up your cooled sponge cake into squares or rectangles of whatever size you please (I prefer smaller, to allow for a greater chocolate to sponge ratio) and dip the squares first into the chocolate icing mixture and then into a bowl of dessicated coconut so that you end up with squares of delicious chocolately, coconutty goodness (see picture).