History

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.

Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Makes 16 lamingtonsHands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • Sponge cake: 4 large eggs, 175g caster sugar, 175g self-raising flour
  • 60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • Chocolate icing: 500g icing sugar, 60g cocoa powder
  • 20g unsalted butter, melted
  • 250ml boiling water
  • 300g desiccated coconut for rolling

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
  2. Beat eggs and sugar with electric mixer 8 minutes until pale, thick and tripled in volume.
  3. Sift in flour in three batches, folding very gently. Fold in cooled melted butter.
  4. Pour into prepared tin and bake 25 minutes until top springs back. Cool completely on rack, ideally overnight (firmer sponge dips better).
  5. Cut cake into 16 cubes (4x4cm). For icing, sift sugar and cocoa into a bowl, stir in butter and boiling water until smooth.
  6. Dip each cube briefly into chocolate icing using two forks, drain, then roll in desiccated coconut on a plate. Set aside on rack 1 hour to firm.

Tip from the editors. Day-old sponge cake holds shape much better than fresh. The traditional Brisbane lamington uses no jam or cream filling; modern variants split and fill with whipped cream and strawberry jam.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat lamington

Lamington in Brisbane

Banneton Bakery ★ 4.5

south-brisbaneTue-Sun 6:30am-3pmWalk-in onlyFrench sourdough and viennoiseries

Banneton Bakery now in South Brisbane (after Woolloongabba) is a Brisbane French baking benchmark. Country sourdough, baguettes, kouign-amann and croissants.

Worth the queue: Country sourdough loaf

5/15 Tribune Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101

Lamington in Sydney

Flour and Stone ★ 4.7

woolloomoolooTue-Fri 7am-3pm, Sat 7am-2pmWalk-in onlyPastry and cakes

Nadine Ingram's pastry bench on Riley Street, Woolloomooloo, Sydney. The morning load of panforte slices, lamingtons and brown-butter cakes is gone by 1pm.

Worth the queue: Panforte slice

53 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011

Bourke Street Bakery Surry Hills ★ 4.6

surry-hillsMon-Fri 7am-5pm, Sat-Sun 7am-3pmWalk-in onlyOrganic sourdough and lamb-and-harissa sausage rolls

Sydney's most-imitated bakery on Bourke Street, Surry Hills. Open daily from 7am; the bacon-and-egg ciabatta roll is the menu signature, retail till 4pm.

Worth the queue: Pork and fennel sausage roll

633 Bourke Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Black Star Pastry ★ 4.5

newtownDaily 7am-4pmWalk-in onlyCake-baking and viennoiserie

Black Star Pastry's Newtown original on Australia Street, Sydney since 2008. Strawberry watermelon cake, strong pastry program, weekend queues from open.

Worth the queue: Strawberry watermelon cake

277 Australia Street, Newtown NSW 2042

More cities are in research. Want lamington covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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