Lamington cake

This is a cake for lamington lovers, with raspberry-vanilla sponge, whipped cream filling and choc-coconut coating.

Credit: The Chocolate Queen

• serves

  8

• prep

  1:10 hour

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Vanilla and raspberry sponge

• 4 eggs
• 115 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• 115 g plain flour, sieved
• pinch of salt
• 20 g unsalted butter, melted
• 120 g fresh raspberries

Cocoa soaking syrup

• 120 g caster sugar
• 120 ml water
• 45 g Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 20 g raspberry jam

Coconut coating

• 125 g desiccated coconut
• 20 g Dutch processed cocoa powder

Vanilla cream

• 400 ml fresh cream 35% fat
• 50 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Assembly

• raspberry jam
• dark chocolate block
• 1 punnet fresh raspberries
• Chocolate lashes, optional (recipe here)

Freezing time: 40 minutes.

Instructions

1. For the sponge: Heat the oven to 180 ˚C (160˚C fan forced).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Whisk until light and aerated. Gently fold through the sieved flour and salt.
3. Mix a small amount of the batter into the melted butter before folding it back through the batter.
4. Break up the raspberries slightly by hand and gently fold them through the cake batter.
5. Transfer the mixture evenly between 2 greased cake tins, 180mm in diameter.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-18 minutes, until the sponge bounces back when gently pressed.
7. Allow the sponges to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing from the cake tins. Once cool, wrap the sponges in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for a minimum of 40 minutes.
8. For the syrup: Place the sugar, water, cocoa powder and jam into a saucepan. Whisk to combine before bringing to the boil, then allow to cool at room temperature.
9. For the coating: Place the coconut and cocoa powder into a bowl and combine by rubbing together by hand. Transfer to a flat tray and set aside until required.
10. For the vanilla cream: Whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer until it reaches a pipeable consistency. Transfer the cream into a piping bag fitted with a 12 mm star piping tube.
11. To assemble: If required, use a serrated edged knife and trim the top off the frozen sponge cakes to create a flat surface.
12. Choose one of the sponge cakes to be the first layer of your cake. While still frozen, brush the soaking syrup around the sides of the sponge. Using your hands, press the coconut coating onto the soaked edges. Set aside until required.
13. Brush the sides and top of the second layer of sponge cake with soaking syrup. Press the coconut coating onto the soaked surfaces of the second layer. Set aside until required.
14. Place the first layer of cake onto your serving plate. Spread a layer of raspberry jam on top of the sponge.
15. Pipe a layer of vanilla cream over the jam in a shell pattern.
16. Sit the second layer of sponge, coconut coating side up, on top of the piped cream.
17. Pipe the vanilla cream, in a shell pattern, around the outer edge of the top of the cake. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the block of chocolate to create dark chocolate shavings. Finish by garnishing the cake with the chocolate shavings and fresh raspberries. You can also add chocolate lashes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.