Lamingtons

While getting ready to re-vamp my posts in the near future, I have a few hanging around that need to get posted. This lamington recipe is definitly something I didn't want to get left behind. It is a moist yellow cake covered in hot chocolate sauce and coconut. Not only are they ridiculously tasty, they're mini-sized too! Basically, in Australia they're the equivalent of cupcakes.

I don't think these will be fitting into any diet of mine in the near future. They're just too good for me to moderate my eating of them. If I make more lamingtons, my healthy eating efforts are sure to be a failure. But, for a different dessert, try them. They're just different enough to be interesting yet the flavors are totally familiar to anyone who likes cake.

Lamingtons

For the yellow cake:
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
12 tbl salted butter, at room temp
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x13" baking pan. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and combine. With the mixer on low add the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk in three seperate additions, beginning and ending with the dry. Beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the top is slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When the cake is cool, cover with a kitchen towel and let sit overnight.

Cut inot 24 squares. Using a long tined fork dip each square into the chocolate sauce and coat completely, letting the excess drip off. Press coconut onto every side and place on a wire rack to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

For the chocolate and coconut:
2/3 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 ounces dried shredded coconut

Whisk together the water, cocoa, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. (The mixture will thicken easily so you might want to set the bowl over a pot of simmering water to thin it out). Use to dip lamingtons. The coconut can be placed in a large bowl to make dipping easier.

Adapted from A Baker's Odyssey by Greg Patent.