Australian-NZ shared dessert (each country claims invention) — cubes of sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing then rolled in desiccated coconut. Sometimes split and filled with cream and jam. The afternoon-tea staple at every fundraising bake sale.
Lamingtons appeared in early-1900s Queensland — the earliest known printed recipe is in Queensland Country Life, 17 December 1900, and the cake is named for Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, Governor of Queensland 1896–1901. New Zealand also claims invention, but the often-cited NZ 'originally called a Wellington / 1888 painting' story was a 2014 Guardian April Fools' hoax that has since been debunked, so the documented origin is Australian. The cake became a cultural icon in both countries via school-fete fundraisers, where 'lamington drives' bake hundreds for community fundraising.
Bite a lamington — chocolate-icing crackle, soft sponge cake inside, coconut texture on every surface. If filled with cream and jam, it becomes a four-element bite: cake-cream-jam-chocolate-coconut. The school-fete classic that traveled the world.
The sponge cake's open crumb absorbs chocolate icing — the cube shape gives even coating. Desiccated coconut adheres because the icing is still wet; it dries to a textured shell. The whole dish gets better the next day as flavors meld.
Variations
Cream Lamington (with whipped cream filling). Raspberry Lamington (jam filling). Strawberry Lamington. Mini Lamington (bite-size).
On the Palate
Where Lamington sits in the New Zealand flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour active + 30 min waiting
- 18 min
Sponge cake: beat 4 eggs with 1 cup sugar 5 min until pale and thick. Fold in 1.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 75g melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla.
Watch outBeat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick enough to ribbon off the whisk — that trapped air is the sponge's only lift, so don't rush it.
- 228 min
Pour into a 23×33cm lined pan; bake at 180°C for 25 min until golden and springy. Cool completely.
- 35 min
Cut cake into 5cm × 5cm cubes (about 16 pieces).
Watch outCut the cake only once it's fully cool — warm sponge crumbles and drags under the knife into ragged cubes.
- 45 min
Chocolate icing: melt 50g butter; whisk in 3 cups powdered sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa, 3/4 cup hot milk until smooth.
- 52 min
Spread 2 cups desiccated coconut on a wide plate.
- 625 min
Using two forks, dip each cake cube into chocolate icing, letting excess drip off, then roll in coconut to coat completely.
Watch outRoll each cube in coconut while the icing is still wet and tacky — let it dry first and the coconut won't stick.
- 715 min
Place on a wire rack to set (15 min).
- 82 min
Optional: split horizontally and fill with whipped cream and raspberry jam before assembling.
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