This Lamington Cake is a moist, rich and decadent. Bake this irresistible treat and find out why we Aussies go crazy over lamingtons!

The beginning of every year is fabulous for us in Australia as it marks a few special events:

Australia Day – 26 of Jan

Easter – late Mar or early Apr

ANZAC Day – 25 of Apr

Valentine’s day – 14 of Feb

I’m totally joking about the last one, but I am sure Val’s day means the world to many romantics out there!

Before COVID-19, my husband Tomasi and I celebrated Australia day by catching a train into the city. Every year our city would be buzzing with happy families proudly carrying or wearing our Australian flag. There’s also with plenty of faces painted in our colours of blue, red and white.

The atmosphere was always amazing. The joyfulness was contagious and the fireworks displayed at nights were magical.

Unfortunately, this year we’ll be spending Australia day at home as COVID is still lurking around. But it’s not all bad news as I am excited to post my first ever recipe to honour Australia Day!

With Lamington cake! This is a traditional beloved Aussie lamington but made into a cake. You’ll still get that moist butter cake covered in chocolate icing and coconut. To be extra naughty we’re also filling our cake with jam and cream

Lots of lamington recipes make 10 or 12 generous size lamington squares, to me, this is dangerous as greed is one of my bad traits. So to prevent me from scoffing more than 1 or 2 lamingtons at a time, I make this cake instead.

I purposely made this lamington cake to serve between 4 to 6 people. So the temptation to go in for seconds or thirds won’t be possible! though I’m not too sure if this is a good or bad thing! but what I do know is it looks absolutely beautiful.

Lamingtons the ‘great Australian bite’

Whilst I was umming and erring about what to make for my first Australia day post, my sister Nara was constantly in my ear. ‘LAMINGTONS LAMINGTONS, make LAMINGTONS!’, she annoyingly repeated over and over again.

Nara’s motivation was clear, she wanted to stuff my homemade lamingtons in her face!

Which is funny, as Nara goes to the gym 3 times a week and tries her best to stay clear from carbs! When I called her out on this she looked sheepish and muttered ‘whatever’, that’s her automatic lame comeback when she has nothing else to say.

So, are you prepared to make a big mess in the kitchen? GOOD, because making lamingtons ain’t for the neat and tidy!

Truthfully, this lamington cake is not as easy to make when compared to my other recipes on here.

In saying that, it’s not that difficult to make. You just need a little patience (I don’t have any) as there are a few steps involved. This includes making and baking the butter cake, the icing and the cream filling. You’ll also need to chill and freeze the cake a few times. I know you probably feel exhausted from just reading this but I promise it’s doable!

More beautiful and indulgent cakes to try:

Ingredients for Lamington Cake

For the butter lamington cake:

Plain flour is also known as ‘all-purpose’ flour, it has no leavening agent added.

Milk – to achieve a rich and full flavour try to stick with full-fat milk if possible.

Caster sugar is also known as ‘superfine sugar’ or ‘baker’s sugar’. It has a finer consistency than white or granulated sugar but it isn’t the same as powdered sugar (also known as confectionary or icing sugar)

For the chocolate icing:

Icing sugar mixture is also known as ‘confectioners’ sugar’ or ‘powdered sugar’. Icing sugar mixture has a small amount of cornflour added to it, this keeps the sugar soft and clump-free. Pure icing sugar can be used instead, but you may need to sift it prior to use if it’s clumpy.

Desiccated coconut is finely shredded dried coconut that hasn’t been sweetened.

Cocoa powder – If possible, try to use a good quality unsweetened cocoa powder.

For the filling:

Thickened cream is also known as whipping cream, it has gelatine added to it and contains 35% milk fat.

Strawberry jam – If possible use a good-quality strawberry jam.

How to make Lamington Cake

A step by step guide with photos

Make the butter cake:

Preheat the oven at 210°C (410°F) or 190°C (475°F) for fan-forced ovens. Line and grease a square 20cm (8 in) tin with nonstick baking paper.

Using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer cream the sugar and the egg on high speed until pale for approximately 5 minutes. Add the egg in one at a time and beat until combined. Adjust the mixer speed to low, add in the vanilla extract, baking powder, half of the flour and half of the milk. Mix for 30 seconds then add in the remaining flour and milk, mix until all ingredients are combined.

Bake the butter cake:

Transfer the batter into the prepared tin, using a butter knife spread the batter evenly. Bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then carefully transfer it to a large plate or chopping board. Freeze the cake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Carefully cut the edges off the cake, removing as little as possible but enough to make a clean cut. Cut the cake in half making two even rectangles. Thinly slice the top of the cakes. Put the cake on top of each other and trim any bits needed to make it even. Freeze the cakes uncovered for 15 minutes.

Prepare the icing:

Place the desiccated coconut on to a large flat plate and spread it out evenly. In a bowl combine the icing sugar, cocoa, butter and boiling water, stir thoroughly to combine.

Coat the cakes in icing and coconut:

Pour in the chocolate mixture into a rectangular container or baking dish that is slightly bigger than the cake. Dip one cake at a time into the icing mixture ensuring the whole cake is covered. Quickly transfer the cake on top of the coconut, use a spoon to help toss the coconut all over the cake. Place the cakes on a cooling rack and freeze for 15 minutes to set the icing.

Make the filling and assemble lamington cake:

On one side of a cake spread the on the jam evenly. Whip the cream until piping consistency, spread or pipe the cream over the jam. Carefully place the cake on top of the filling. If the cake has not fully defrosted leave it at room temperature for 10-15mins prior to serving.

Other tips and info

Room temperature eggs, butter and milk, this will help the batter ingredients to combine better. Cold ingredients will solidify the butter making it harder to distribute into the batter evenly.

Freezing the cake a few times will make it easier to handle when coating it in chocolate and coconut. It will also shorten the overall resting time by heaps but it won’t change the taste or texture. The lamingtons will still be moist and delicious.

With cream and jam is how I enjoy my lamingtons, however, this is optional. You may leave this out and make finger-sized lamingtons instead by cutting the cake into thick strips.

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.

Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.

I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’

Cheers – Cat T