Lamingtons

If you are a fellow Aussie you know all about lamingtons and how awesome they can be - but if you live else where you may not have experienced these little wonderful cakes. Just imagine mini sponge or butter cakes dipped in chocolate and coated in coconut - seriously one of the best flavour combinations of all time.

Lamingtons (from the Australian Women's Weekly - 100 Favourite Cakes)
Makes 24

Cake:
4 oz unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
pinch salt
1/2 cup milk

Chocolate Icing and Coconut Topping:
1 lb icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 oz unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
3/4 lb shredded coconut

Cake:

1. Grease and line a lamington tin (11 in x 7 in). Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).
2. Beat butter and vanilla together until white, add sugar, beat until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Fold in sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. When all the ingredients are added, beat mixture lightly until smooth.
4. Spoon mixture into lamington tin, bake in oven for 30 minutes. Cake is done when firm to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool slightly before turning the cake out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing:

1. Sift icing sugar and cocoa into heatproof basin, or into top half of double saucepan. 
2. Add softened butter and milk, stir with a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly.
3. Stand over hot water, stir constantly until icing is of good coating consistency.
4. Keep icing over hot water while dipping lamingtons. If icing becomes too thick, add a little extra warmed milk or water. 

Putting it all together:

1.  Thinly trim brown top, base and sides from cake. 
2. Cut cake into 24 even pieces.
3. Hold each piece of cake on a fork. Dip each cake in chocolate icing, then toss in coconut.
4. Stand on wire rack until icing sets.

The butter cake batter ready to bake.

The baked cake.

Individual pieces of cake.

Delicious lamington!

Why not give it a try? I promise you will love this one!

Apricot and Coconut Muffins

Zoe and I baked these yummy muffins the other day. Well really I baked, and Zoe played with an unopened packet of sugar, and did some pretend stirring with a bowl and a fork. She seemed to really enjoy it, and loved listening to me count out the number of cups of flour, sugar, etc. There was lots of singing too - "this is the way we stir the muffins, stir the muffins, stir the muffins" - on repeat. All in all it was a very fun time and I'll definitely be baking nice easy recipes with Zoe more often. So if you have a young one and a rainy day give these muffins a try - they are easy, fun and delicious!


Apricot and Coconut Muffins (from The Australian Women's Weekly Kids Cooking)
Makes 12

425g can apricot halves
2 1/4 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
160ml buttermilk
125ml vegetable oil
1/3 cup apricot jam

Coconut topping
1/4 cup plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/3 cup shredded coconut
30g butter

1. Preheat the oven to moderate. Grease 12-hole muffin pan. Drain apricots; discard syrup, then chop apricots coarsely.
2. Make coconut topping.
3. Combine flour and sugar in large bowl; use a fork to stir in apricot, then combined egg, buttermilk, oil and jam. Mixture should look lumpy, do not overmix.
4. Divide mixture among prepared pan holes; sprinkle coconut topping over each muffin mixture. Bake, uncovered, in moderate oven about 25 minutes. Stand muffins in pan 5 minutes; place top-side up on wire rack to cool.
5. Coconut topping: Combine flour, sugar and coconut in small bowl; use fingers to rub butter into flour mixture.
   

Here is the little miss trialing the coconut topping. She called it cheese, I guess it kind of looked like grated cheese. She loved it!

Cupcake Hero - Snowball Cupcakes

It is that time again people - Cupcake Hero time! The magic ingredient for the challenge this month was coconut - and when I think of coconut I think of Golden Rough (yummy chocolates), Bounty, Cherry Ripe, Lamingtons, coconut cream pie and yummy marshmallows covered in tasty toasted coconut. So many good things have coconut involved in them!

I figured that since I am an Aussie gal that I should make some lamington themed cupcakes, and if you don't know what a lamington is then you are missing out. It is a sponge cake cut into cubes or rectangles, dipped in chocolate glaze icing and then coated in coconut. Yeah it is good.

So my plan was to have a chocolate cake (because I think that is tastier than a plain old sponge), topped with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC) and then coated in chocolate and rolled in shredded coconut. And I did follow that plan, but what I ended up with was not a lamington cupcake, but a snowball cupcake (a snowball is a marshmallow coated in chocolate and then rolled in coconut). Seriously when you bite in to this cupcake it feels like you are eating a snowball and for that reason these cupcakes are completely and utterly awesome. I think I might be making these again!


Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 20

50g cocoa powder
125ml boiling water
185g unsalted butter, softened
330g caster sugar
3 eggs
225g self-raising flour
75g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
125ml milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake cases.
2. Mix cocoa and boiling water in a cup. Set aside to cool.
3. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
   
4. Sift flours with bicarbonate of soda and stir into butter mixture. Add milk and vanilla and mix well. Gradually add the cocoa and water, mixing constantly.
5. Divide into cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 egg whites
270g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla extract

1. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl and whisk over a saucepan of simmering water until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is as hot as you can get it without the egg whites cooking. To test rub the mixture between your fingers and if you can't feel any sugar granules then it is ready.
   
2. With the whisk attachment on your mixer whisk the egg white and sugar mixture on high speed until a stiff meringue is formed and the mix has cooled down to room temperature. This should take about 10 minutes.
3. Now put the paddle attachment on your mixer and with the mixer on a low speed add a tablespoon of butter at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy again. This should take about 4-6 minutes.
4. Add the vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined.

To Finish

350g milk chocolate
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup shredded coconut (approximately)

1. Melt the chocolate using a double boiler.
   
2. Add the vegetable oil and stir until completely combined. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Put the coconut on a plate.
   
3. Dip each cupcake in the chocolate mix and then roll in the coconut. Be careful - I had two cupcakes where the frosting came off completely in the chocolate - whoops!

Dipped in chocolate...

Rolled in shredded coconut...

Cut in half and ready to devour...

Yum...

On the ninth day of Christmas (White Christmas)

Okay my Internet connection is ridiculously slow at the moment so this blog post has been a pain in the butt to put together. Just imagine waiting for 5 minutes for each web page to load up - yes it really is that bad right now. Hopefully this will only be a small glitch and then we will have "lightning" speeds again tomorrow. Well we better.

Anyway onto the baking - it seems Better Homes and Gardens has let me down again! This time the White Christmas recipe (a classic Christmas treat in Australia) was close to a diaster. The recipe calls for 250g of Copha (vegetable shortening) however I found that it was nowhere near enough to make the slice stick together. So my White Christmas quickly became slightly yellow Christmas because I needed to add some unsalted butter (since I didn't have any extra Copha) to make it all stick together. But in the end it tastes pretty good - if you don't mind Copha. It really is a love or hate kind of ingredient. I don't mind it, but Mat thinks it is like eating wax - yummo. So if you can handle Copha then this is another treat that is great to package up and give us a gift or to eat yourself. It was last up to 3 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.


White Christmas (from Better Homes and Gardens - December 2009)

250g Copha (vegetable shortening), chopped (I would have 2 packs on hand just in case you need more to bind it together)
3 cups puffed-rice cereal
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup powdered milk
300g rose-flavoured Turkish delight, chopped (I used red glace cherries instead)
1/2 cup toasted almond flakes

1. Line base and sides of a lamington tin with baking paper.
   
2. Put Copha in a small heavy-based pan over a low heat and melt. Remove from heat and stand until lukewarm.
3. Combine cereal, coconut, icing sugar, powdered milk, turkish delight and almonds and stir to combine.
   
4. Make a well in the centre, add Copha and stir until mixture is uniformly moist and coated in Copha. Spoon into prepared tin and pack down with the back of a spoon. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until firm.
5. Remove White Christmas from the tin and cut into bars or squares.

Rating?
3 out of 5 reindeers!

On the eighth day of Christmas (White Rocky Road)

Okay so apologies in advance, there is a total lack of photos for this recipe - but it couldn't be helped! For one thing it was a very gray day so the lighting was not so good. Then Zoe didn't exactly want me to do any baking (picture tears, tantrums and a whole lot of carry on), so it was all very rushed. But hey I made it and it is delicious! Sweet white chocolate, chewy marshmallows, tasty almond nougat and crunchy almonds = awesome!

This is another treat that would be perfect to package up and give as a gift at Christmas time (or any time really). It will keep for up to 2 weeks in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

So you know what to do, get in the kitchen and get baking :)



White Rocky Road (from Better Homes and Gardens - December 2007)
Makes about 20 pieces

2/3 cup slivered almonds
1 cup white marshmallows, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded coconut
150g vanilla almond nougat, roughly chopped
375g white chocolate, melted

1. Line bottom and sides of 2 bar tins with baking paper.
2. Combine almonds, marshmallows, coconut and nougat.
3. Add the melted chocolate and stir to combine.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared tins, cover with glad wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until firm.
5. Turn out rocky road and cut each bar into pieces.
   

Rating?
5 out of 5 reindeers!

If you like pina coladas...

Pineapple cake topped with Pina Colada buttercream and shredded coconut

Have you heard that Iron Cupcake is back? Another reason to bake some cupcake delights! To kickstart the second year of Iron Cupcake we have an interesting challenge - the theme this time was music. So of course I started to rack my brain for cupcake worthy songs, and I came up with... If You Like Pina Coladas!

So if you in fact do like Pina Coladas may I suggest that you try out these cupcakes, especially the buttercream (drool).

Pineapple Cupcakes (adapted from Planet Cake)
Makes 12

175g unsalted butter, softened
160g caster sugar
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs
160g self-raising flour
100g plain flour
200ml milk
440g tin of crushed pineapple, well drained (reserve the juice for the buttercream)
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup honey
50g unsalted butter, extra

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 12-hole muffin trays with paper cases.
2. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and a pinch of salt until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift the flours together. Using a wooden spoon, fold the flour and milk alternately into the creamed mixture.
4. Spoon mixture into the paper cases. Top each cupcake with crushed pineapple and a sprinkle of coconut.
   
5. Beat the extra butter with the honey until creamy. Spoon some of the honey mixture over each cupcake - not too much!
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Leave in tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool.

Pina Colada Buttercream

160g cream cheese, softened
60g unsalted butter, softened
500g icing sugar, sifted
2 tsp coconut essence
2 tsp pineapple juice

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
   
2. Add the icing sugar, coconut essence and pineapple juice and beat until combined.
   

To assemble the cupcakes top each with a swirl of the buttercream, then flatten out the frosting and roll it in some shredded coconut. Decorate with a bendy straw and cocktail umbrella.


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And check out Iron Cupcake Earth - it really is a lot of fun!

Baking Mondays - Coconut Lime Cupcakes

This week I chose a cupcake recipe from my new book "The Australian Women's Weekly - Cupcakes". The book was a surprise gift from my lovely mum and she also got me the cookies and cupcakes by colour books from the same series. Thanks mum!

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

Makes 24

250g butter, softened

2 tsps coconut essence

1 tbsp finely grated lime rind

290g caster sugar

4 eggs

160ml milk

120g desiccated coconut

375g self-raising flour

1. Preheat oven to moderate and line two 12-hole standard muffin pans.
2. Beat butter, essence, rind, sugar and eggs in a large bowl with electric mixer until combined.
3. Stir in milk and coconut, then sifted flour. Divide mixture among cases; smooth surface.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.

Coconut Lime Frosting

60g butter, softened

160g cream cheese, softened

2 tsps coconut essence

juice of 2 limes

3 cups icing sugar (approximately)

desiccated coconut to decorate

Beat butter, cream cheese, essence and lime juice in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; gradually beat in sifted icing sugar until you reach the consistency you want. Spread over cooled cupcakes and then top with desiccated coconut.

The only changes I made to the recipe was to add the lime juice to the frosting - it just needed that bit of extra bite.

So how do these cupcakes rate?

Me - 8/10, they are really light and fluffy, and have a very subtle flavour. They could be a little more flavoursome.

Mat - 9.5/10, hubby was very impressed with this cupcake since he likes cakes that are not too sweet.