A delightful picnic cake fashioned after the iconic Australian Lamington Slice has layers of tangy butter cake squashed together with homemade roasted rhubarb jam, drizzled with chocolate ganache and topped with coconut. Hard to stop at one bite! The easiest layer cake you will ever make!
Earlier this year I collaborated with CSR Sugar to invite baker’s across Australia to share their favourite sweet recipes and memories to be compiled and published into a cookbook to celebrate CSR’s 160th Anniversary. I am excited to announce that this cookbook compilation of love and sweet memories called Made For Memories is now available at Woolworth’s from October 14, 2015. Buy any 3 X 1kg products from the CSR range and pick up the Made For Memories cookbook for free. And they have a fantastic range for all your baking needs, from raw caster sugar to demerara and treacle. Alternatively, you can purchase it for $24.95 from Woolworth’s throughout October or until stocks last. So don’t miss out on your copies.
The cookbook which also includes my Coconut Cream Horns has some lovely family recipes passed down from generations, some with secret ingredients and some with the tried and tested methods of baking experts from Australian homes. There is something for everyone and the 72 recipes are perfect for weekend baking sessions ranging from biscuits and slices to chutnies, cakes, pastries, jams and pies.
I loved the look of the Lamington Cake and decided to bake it with my own little spin to it. If you are a novice to layer cakes like I am, this is the cake you want to start with. It is incredibly simple to bake and put together. It also tastes like a true blue lamington and is pretty as a picture. The rhubarb in my patch is thriving so I made a version of my Rhubarb Vanilla Jam with roasted strawberries and balsamic to layer the Lamington Cake with. The crumb is beautiful. The flavours are divine.
Just remember when you are baking the cake, to bake it for the time suggested in the recipe and remove it from the oven if the top is springy to touch. Don’t be tempted to over bake it to get a browner top as this will dry out the cake and it won’t be as soft and moist. I have just iced the top with chocolate ganache. You could ice the whole cake with it. This is the most perfect picnic cake and I predict I will be baking this often as the weather warms will. So will you, if you try it once.
If you bake it or share it, don’t forget to tag me with #cookrepublic and #bakingnation. Happy Friday! Hope you have a lovely weekend. x
Recipe
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LAMINGTON CAKE
Ingredients
for the cake
- 125 g butter, softened
- pinch of salt
- ¾ cup CSR golden caster sugar or CSR raw sugar
- 3 eggs
- 200 g sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 225 g self-raising flour, sifted
for the chocolate ganache
- 200 g dark chocolate, chopped
- 200 ml pure cream
- 1 cup rhubarb-strawberry jam to serve
- ½ cup desiccated coconut, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced). Grease and line a round cake pan with baking paper.
- Place butter, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with electric beaters for a few minutes until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and vanilla. Beat briefly until thoroughly combined. Using a wooden spoon, gently fold in the flour until mixed completely.
- Scoop batter in the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes until the cake is done when tested with a skewer down the middle.
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- To make the icing, place ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucepan on low heat. Stir constantly and cook for a few minutes until chocolate is melted and the ganache is glossy.
- To assemble the cake cut it in half. Remove the top. Spread one cup of jam over the bottom half. Replace with the top half of the cake. Drizzle with chocolate ganache and sprinkle with desiccated coconut.
Notes
Wow, who knew this amazing cake existed !!
I was so excited to bake this cake over the weekend and was devastated when in resulted in a fail 🙁 What size cake tin did you use? As you didn't specify I used my 20cm springform pan. The cake wasn't cooked after half an hour so I left it another 5-10 minutes. Sadly, when I inverted the cake on my wire rack, it was still raw on the bottom. Any tips for next time because I definitely want to give this another crack!
oh no Tess! I am so sorry your cake failed. Apologies for leaving the size out but you did good in guessing the pan size. I did in fact bake it in my 20cm spring form and I am baffled as to why your cake was still uncooked at the bottom even after leaving it in for another 10 minutes. The only thing I can think of from what you mentioned is that I have mentioned to remove from oven and cool completely (I did this in the tin itself), I didn't turn it onto a wire rack. This gives the cake a chance to continue cooking in the residual heat of the pan without browning the top. Also, do check the heat (I have mentioned both convection and fan forced). Hope this works for you! Let me know how it goes. x
What a lovely cake, the chocolate ganache topping is so tempting!
A wonderful cake and lovely idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
Stunning, Sneh. I have actually never tried this cake, but as I'll be spending a few months in Sydney I really want to tackle this classic! Yours looks perfect with the rhubarb jam – one of my favourites exactly because it is never too sweet. x
Arghhh this is MY kind of book. I cannot wait to get a copy. So many old school favourites I'm sure! Well done Sneh!
This cake looks fantastic! I just tried lamingtons for the first time recently so now I have a greater enthusiasm for this gorgeous piece of artwork!