Lamingtons
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- Serves: Makes 12
- Preparation: 14
- Cooking: 30
- Ready: 45
Popular in Australia and New Zealand, these are really yummy coconutty treats!
Ingredients
- 80 g almonds or 80 g ground almonds
- 260 g unbleached plain flour
- 45 g oat flour
- 1 tablespoon cornflour/cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of/baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- a pinch of saffron threads
- 100 g safflower or sunflower oil
- 170 g brown rice syrup
- 350 ml plain soy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 160 g desiccated coconut
For the glaze
- 300 ml non-dairy milk
- 50 g margarine
- 70 g finely chopped vegan dark chocolate
- 130 g demerara sugar
Method
Oil a 23 x 30-cm/9 x 12-inch baking pan.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Dust the baking pan with a little flour to coat the base and shake off any excess.
If using whole almonds, lightly roast them for a couple of minutes in the preheated oven, then finely grind them in a food processor or spice mill.
Sift the ground almonds, both flours, cornflour/cornstarch, baking powder, bicarbonate of/baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and stir in the saffron threads.
In a separate bowl, mix the oil, syrup, milk and vanilla extract. Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix gently with a wooden spoon. Do not overmix.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and spread level with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely in the pan, then cut into 12 squares.
Put the coconut on a big plate.
When the cake has cooled, for the glaze, put all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat and whisk occasionally until the margarine and chocolate have melted and the sugar has dissolved. Stir until smooth. Pour the hot glaze into a wide, shallow container or a small baking pan. Dip each cooled cake square into it, waiting for it to soak up some of the glaze all over before taking it out with a fork. Don’t be impatient – if you just dip the squares in too quickly, you’ll have a lot of glaze left and the lamingtons won’t be moist.
Use a fork to roll each square in the coconut. Try to do it neatly as the glaze can stick to the coconut and your squares won’t look nice and white.
Allow to cool before serving. If you do happen to have some glaze left, drizzle it over each square before serving. Enjoy!
Additonal notes
Recipe taken from Vegan Baking by Dunja Gulin, published by Ryland Peters & Small (£16.99)
Photography by Clare Winfield © Ryland Peters & Small
“These yummy treats do look funny – furry and white from all the coconut they have been rolled in! This is a recipe that I tried to ‘veganize’ while still in high-school. It became quite popular and I know for a fact that it was the first cake a couple of my school friends attempted to make. So I assure you, you can make them too!”
