Daring Bakers Reveal: Lamingtons

Don't you love the blue dishes? My sister found them for me and I absolutely love them! I was thinking about all of the wonderful desserts I could put into them and thought these toasted almond covered Lamingtons would be perfect. I had never heard of Lamingtons when I was assigned this challenge so I was really excited to read about them and make them!

For the May challenge Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina dared us to make Lamingtons. An Australian delicacy that is as tasty as it is elegant. The story she told us goes like this: "is said that the cakes were named after Lord Lamington who was the Governor of Queensland, Australia from 1896 to 1901. Stories abound as to why the cakes came about. I like the one that tells of Lord Lamington’s maid-servant accidentally dropping a freshly baked sponge cake into some melted chocolate. Apparently Lord Lamington disliked wastage so he suggested coating the chocolate coated cake in desiccated coconut to avoid messy fingers". I also like to think that's the story because it's a fun one.

As you can see Lamingtons are supposed to be covered in desiccated coconut, not toasted almonds, but you see I don't like coconut so I switched it up a bit. I really like toasted almonds and the flavor they give these Lamingtons is delicious! I did add some orange zest (reconstituted from dried) but it didn't add much flavor, I would add more next time.

Lamingtons
Servings: 24 
Genoise Ingredients:
5 large eggs, at room temperature (you can place in warm water for 5 minutes)
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) superfine sugar (I put mine in the food processor for a minute)
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest (dried or fresh)
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) (200 gm) (7 oz) cornflour (cornstarch)
1 ½ teaspoons (8 gm) baking powder
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) butter, melted (optional but I added it)
Chocolate Glaze (see recipe below)
Toasted Almonds (see recipe below)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9"x13" pan with non-stick paper or foil (spray if it's not non-stick).
2. Place the eggs, sugar, and salt into a stand mixer and mix on high for 15 minutes.
3. Place the vanilla and orange juice in a small bowl and add the orange zest if it's dehydrated so it will reconstitute. Sift the cornstarch and baking powder three times while the eggs are mixing.

4. After 15 minutes add the vanilla, orange juice, and orange zest to the mixer, mix for another 5 minutes on high speed. The mixture should be lighter in color, foamy, and at least tripled in size.
5. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture and gently fold in to combine. If you're adding butter then it should be folded in gently at this point.
6. Spread the batter into the pan and bake for 22-25 minutes. Immediately flip out onto a cooling rack when it's done baking. Flip over again so there won't be lines on the top of the cake. Preferably let the cake sit for one day before cutting it to dip in the chocolate glaze. Once ready, cut the cake into 24-30 even rectangles.
7. Toast the almonds at 350F for 8-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool completely. Chop almonds in a food processor until they're a small but coarse crumb that will coat the cakes well. Do not overprocess the almonds or you will make almond butter which is good for some recipes but not for this one.

Chocolate Glaze Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2-3/4 cup milk

1. Stir together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Heat milk until warm but not boiling in the microwave. Pour melted butter and hot milk over the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth.
2. Put the toasted almonds into a small bowl.
3. Dip the rectangles into the chocolate glaze then into the toasted almonds to coat, set on a cooling rack to dry.
4. Let sit at least 2 hours before eating to let the chocolate fully harden, or put them into the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Store in the refrigerator. 

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