The lamington is the Queensland-invented sponge cube dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut; in Australia we have verified places to eat it in Brisbane and Sydney.
Lamington · Brisbane
The lamington is the Queensland-invented sponge cube dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut. Created in Brisbane circa 1900 and a national emblem since.
The lamington was reportedly invented in Brisbane in 1900 at the Government House kitchen during the term of Lord Lamington as Queensland Governor. The chef is said to have devised the recipe to use leftover stale sponge cake, dipping it in chocolate icing and rolling in coconut to make it portable. The cake quickly spread across Queensland CWA (Country Women's Association) bake sales and is now a sacred staple of Australian morning teas, school fetes and Anzac Day fundraisers. Brisbane bakeries still claim particular ownership; an annual 'National Lamington Day' has fallen on 21 July each year since 2006.
Where to eat in Brisbane:
- Banneton Bakery
Where to eat Lamington in Brisbane: the editor picks
Lamington · Sydney
A square of sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut. A reliable Sydney pick. Recommended by TableJourney editors.
The lamington is widely credited to Queensland Premier Lord Lamington's household in the 1890s, but Sydney's CWA halls and church fetes built the modern recipe. By the 1920s it was standard across NSW bakeries and a staple of school fundraising days. Pierre Roelofs (Cumulus alumnus) and Black Star Pastry have run modern Sydney revivals; the simple sponge-cake square remains the country's most-recognised baked good.
Where to eat in Sydney:
- Flour and Stone
- Bourke Street Bakery Surry Hills
- Black Star Pastry
Where to eat Lamington in Sydney: the editor picks