There is no cake more Australian than Lamingtons! A moist butter sponge dipped in chocolate then coated with coconut, this is The Cake sold at every suburban bakery and weekend fundraisers.
You’ll get coconut everywhere making them and eating them. But that’s all part of the Aussie experience. It’s how we do it Down Under! 🇦🇺
Lamingtons – an Australian classic!
A soft buttery sponge cake coated all over with chocolate icing and coconut.
Even if you’ve never heard of these before, you just know it’s going to be good. We Aussies know great tucker – and this is as Aussie as it gets!! (OK, OK, maybe as Aussie as Pavs, Anzac Biscuits, Sausage Rolls, Party Pies, weekend sausage sizzles and Sunday Roast Lamb😇)
How to make Lamingtons
On the face of it, it sounds simple enough:
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make a buttery vanilla sponge cake
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cut into squares, dip into chocolate icing, coat with coconut
The one little extra step I add that is going to make your Lamington making life a total breeze is to mostly freeze the cake before rolling in icing. A firm, semi frozen piece of cake is much easier to handle when coating in icing and rolling in coconut. Try doing it with fresh sponge, and you’ll be battling crumbling cake as you try to coat it. Been there, done that, multiple times!
The cake will thaw as the icing sets and the cake is as fresh as it was straight out of the oven.
Here’s a bit more background to explain why I freeze the cake before coating – to make sure I fully convince you so you don’t skip that step!
Why I Freeze The Cake before coating
Lamingtons are one of those cakes that recipes say are easy to make, but most are just downright lying to you. The first few times I made them involved screeches of frustration and serious foot stomping.😤 I emerged on the other side looking like I’d been in a mud-wrestle with a plate of something that barely resembled the neat squares you see in this post.
The challenge is this: The sponge has to be tender and moist enough to eat plain, but trying to roll such a delicate cake in icing is a disaster. The cake crumbles into the icing, making it thicker and impossible to work with.
And once the crumbling begins, imagine the mess when you try to roll it in coconut.
The solution offered by traditional recipes is to leave the cake out overnight, essentially letting the outside become a bit stale so it’s easier to handle. This works pretty well – but the cake is a bit drier than ideal.
The 21st century solution:
FREEZE THE CAKE.
It’s even easier to handle for coating, and the bonus is that the cake stays fresh and moist – no need to leave it out to dry out!
This will change your Lamington Life forever.
Butter Sponge Cake for Lamingtons
The sponge cake for Lamingtons is a terrific recipe that I use as a base for other recipes (strangely, none that I’ve shared here – yet). Simply made with pantry staples, it’s soft and buttery, and not too sweet which is what we want because we get extra sweetness from the chocolate icing.
The big debate:
Do Lamingtons have jam and cream?
Classic Lamingtons made the traditional old-school way do not have jam or cream sandwiched in the middle. But you’ll come across many Aussies who won’t have Lamingtons any other way (some RecipeTin family members included).
My view – Lamingtons should stand as a great cake without any filling. Jam and cream is optional – it should make it over the top good!
If you’re a Lamington fan, I think you’ll approve of this recipe! The butter cake is moist, tender and buttery. The chocolate coating is thick enough so you get a great hit of chocolate, but thin enough so it soaks into the sponge, a sticky enough to glue on plenty of coconut.
The added bonus is that using the little trick to freeze the cakes before coating, they are neat and tidy so they look as great as they taste! – Nagi x
PS It will be messy making these. And that’s totally ok. Because it’s part of the great Aussie tradition that you get coconut “everywhere” when you’re making them and eating them!
PPS When better to make Lamingtons than for Australia Day??
Lamingtons
Watch how to make it
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Lamingtons
Ingredients
Butter Sponge
- 125 g / 4.5 oz unsalted butter , softened
- 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs , room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (260g) flour , plain/all purpose, sifted (Note 1)
- 3.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) milk (low or full fat)
Icing
- 4 cups (480g) icing sugar (confectionary sugar), sifted
- 1/3 cup (22g) cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp (15g) unsalted butter
- 150ml (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) boiling water
Coating
- 3 - 4 cups desiccated coconut
Optional: Jam and Cream
- Strawberry jam
- 1 cup (250 ml) cream
- 1 tbsp white sugar
Instructions
Butter Sponge
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (or fan forced 160C/320F).
- Sift flour and baking powder together.
- Grease a 20 cm x 30 cm / 8" x 12" cake pan. Line with baking paper (parchment paper), leaving an overhang on all sides (to make it easy to remove).
- Beat butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium high speed until light and fluffy - about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
- Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition so the batter is smooth, not curdled.
- Add half the flour and gently fold to combine, then stir in half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Stand for 5 minutes then use the overhang baking paper to lift the cake out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Prepare Cake to Coat
- Cut cake into 15 squares (5 x 3), or 18 rectangles. Freeze for 1 to 1.5 hours. (Note 2)
Icing
- Combine the Icing ingredients in a heat proof bowl and mix until smooth. Should be a syrup consistency, but not watery. (Note 2)
Coating
- Place coconut in a shallow bowl or pan with a largish surface area (Note 3).
- Place a piece of cake in the icing and roll to coat using 2 forks. Transfer it into the coconut and quickly roll to coat all over in coconut. Transfer to tray.
- Repeat with remaining sponges.
- Stand for 1 to 2 hours, or until set. Then serve with tea and coffee!
Optional: Jam and Cream
- Beat cream and sugar until firm peaks form.
- Cut coated Lamington in half horizontally. Spread with jam then pipe or dollop on cream. Top with lid, keep refrigerated.
Recipe Notes:
No cream: Store in airtight container for 3 to 4 days, or freeze for 2 - 3 months then thaw before serving.
Cream: Store in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. 5. Nutrition per serving.
Barely adapted from this recipe from taste.com.au. Ingredients the same, the main thing I changed is the process (especially the coating process, to make it easier!)Nutrition Information:
Originally published 2014. Post refreshed with better photos, recipe video and process steps added. No change to recipe!
More Aussie Tucker favourites
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Pavlova – Meringue cake with marshmallow centre topped with cream and berries
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Sausage Rolls – Juicy pork filling encased in puff pastry. We think ours rivals Bourke St Bakery!
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Party Pies – Mini pies filled with slow cooked beef
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Scones – One of the best things the English brought to our shores!
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Caramel Slice – chocolate, caramel and shortbread. Home run!
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Sunday Roast Lamb with Gravy – also try this amazing Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb!
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Big bucket of fresh cooked prawns with dipping sauces – a summer favourite!
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Browse the Australia Day recipes collection!
Life of Dozer
You think it’s hard making recipe videos? Trying make them with THIS in your line of sight….
So I made these for my mum’s b’day and she LOVED them! You should have heard the noise she made when we revealed them as her b’day “cake”! Surprise, shock, excitement and nostalgia all in one little sound haha.
I’ve never really liked lammingtons, didn’t love the cake or the coconut or the fake chocolate, but I had also never had homemade ones… and my mum hasn’t had homemade ones since her grandma made them for her when she was a kid!
This recipe was exactly how she remembered them! Tho her grandma used melted chocolate as the coating, my mum couldn’t tell the difference 😉 and I actually LOVED them! Not suprising since store bought can never beat homemade!!
We’ve been sharing them daily for the last week haha and they held up pretty nicely, almost 5 days strong!
Thanks again for this little nostalgia trip… next is Pikelets & jam for mothers day!!!
You are a good daughter Samantha! Thanks for letting me know how it all turned out! They are such an Aussie icon dish! N x
Totally smitten with this recipe. So easy and love the frozen cake tip. Mine are perfectly tender crumb and taste terrific.
Thanks Heather!! I appreciate the comment!! N x
it’s a very good receipe, my kids LOVE IT. Thanks
Hi Nagi,
I made this recipe on the weekend with my kids and they loved it! We have been reading possum magic and they were keen to make lamingtons. They turned out so well that the youngest is insisting on having them at her birthday party on the weekend.
I was wondering if I could make the sponge ahead of time and freeze it to keep it fresh, maybe wrapped in layers of foil and gladwrap? Or if not, how long do you think the lamingtons would keep for? I’m keen to prepare as much as possible in advance.
Hi Kate – you can store the tightly wrapped sponge in the freezer until you are ready to ice it or you can freeze the finished lamingons as per the notes for storage under the recipe! N x
Hi Nagi – another one of your recipes which I just have to comment on (I use too many of your recipes to always do this!). While this dessert is a bit of work, it is so totally worth it! Even a few days later, the cake is tender and moist. I added the cream & jam to some of them and that took them to another level. My husband, who normally dislikes cakes (weird, I know!), complimented the Lamingtons. This recipe is definitely a keeper and one I will pull out again for guests.
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe. Grew up eating this back home. Now residing in the states and my kids are in love with lamingtons, thanks to this recipe, which has now become one of our favorites treats as a family.
I made this today and this is the most softest and yummy vanilla sponge… I filled it with my homemade strawberry jam and it’s delicious… Not a fan of the chocolate sauce I could just eat the vanilla sponge filled with jam
OMG. I have been making lamingtons for 52 years (in USA). The trick of freezing the cut up cake is wonderful. It made making the lamingtons so easy. THANK YOU
Hi Nagi!!!!
Hope you’re looking forward to a nice Australia Day off.
I’m just making some treats for Australia day (vanilla slice, your chicken pot pies but made into mini hand pies and lamingtons) and realised I only have icing sugar mixture for these lamingtons. Not plain icing sugar. Will this be ok?
Thanks so much
Jules ☺️
Oh I just saw you’ve already answered this below!! Thanks for having the answer up – icing sugar mixture is fine.
Thanks again xx
Made these lamingtons today for an Aussie meal at our monthly family gathering. Every month we chose a different country and all bring something from that country. I made them for practice today and they are awesome! Will make another batch in a couple days to take with. The cake is so tender and the icing is a sweet surprise.
What a fun idea! N x
Hi.
I’m allergic to coconut. Is there anything else that can be used instead of coconut?
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I did try your technique of freezing the sponge. It was a game changer. Thank you so much!!!
Do you use large or medium sized eggs?
I always wanted to make lamingtons, so why not give it a go over Christmas? Made it yesterday and they turned out great! The best tip was freezing the cake, it was soooo easy to coat and the cake held together. I just didn’t remember how sweet the chocolate icing was (I haven’t eaten lamington in a long time). I must confess that I checked other recipes to see if all that icing sugar was the right amount and all the recipes called for similar amount. I know this is the traditional recipe, but do you know any variations for the chocolate icing that are less sweet? But overall the recipe worked out perfectly! Thank you!!!
Do I use CSR icing mixture or pure icing sugar? What are the differences?
I generally use icing mixture which contains a bit of cornflour that keeps it soft! Pure icing sugar hardens more and must always be sifted. N x
I just made these and they look amazing, we’ll see how the are tomorrow morning with coffee! Thank you so much for the recipe, I mad a double batch and will share with my neighbors. 😊
Thanks for the recipe!!!! It’s fantastic, It seems it s just as NZ lamingtons too. Made them this weekend for my Boyfriend and his sister and they felt back home while eating eat. Now need to try make the pink one. Any tips?
Hun if I wanted to part the batter for three round cake tins size 20 x 5cm would that work . Would one batter be enough for 3 round tins as I want to make cake .
Hi Nagi
Can i do half the recipe?
If yes what pan size should i use
Thank you for this recipe! These are absolutely to die for!! I used Woolworth’s gluten free flour blend (because of our wheat allergies), and they came out perfectly. I also toasted the coconut in the oven before using it.