The Lamington

The humble lamington. Such a little thing, but it is known as a classic Aussie invention. So where did it come from? One article I found on the Internet at http://www.getprice.com.au/The-history-of-the%20Lamington___arts_20 tells us the origin of the lamington. Apparently it was first created in 1886 at Toowoomba in Queensland by Lord Lamington. He was the Governor of Queensland during this time and he decided to take his guests to an afternoon soiree at Harlaxton House.

It was a really hot day as only Queensland can produce and Lord Lamington asked his cook to whip up a batch of snowballs which are little round cream cakes. In the kitchen the cook discovered that she had no round cutters or cream so she had to think outside the square to satisfy her master's desires. So the cook set about baking a large sponge cake which she then cut into small squares, covered in melted chocolate and then sprinkled grated coconut over the whole thing.

After the guests had eaten the little cakes the lady of the house was asked by what name these cakes were called. Lady Lamington replied that they had no formal name, so the guests then suggested that they be called Lord Lamington cakes in honour of the Governor. And that is how the lamington got their name.

Another interesting fact about the lamington is that it even made it onto Master Chef Australia as part of the Australian Country Womens Association favourite recipes cook-off.

This episode of MasterChef can be found at http://www.masterchef.com.au/video.htmvxChannel=S2MC5FFullEpWk11&vxClipId=2729_646MC300610CR&vxClickToPlay=false.
If you have trouble finding this link, you can just go to the Master Chef home page on http://www.masterchef.com.au/home.htmww.masterchef.com.au/home.htm and then go to the episode guide link. This episode was number 63. As you can see from the video most of the contestants had trouble baking this little goodie with their cakes turning out to be either too small or too dry.

If you are interested in baking lamingtons for yourself, a nice simple recipe can be found at the Country Womens Association web page, which also features the other cakes from the MasterChef episode mentioned above. This page is at
http://www.cwaofnsw.org.au/newsEvents/generalNews.do?newsId=3368


Wikipedia also has a page dedicated to lamingtons. This can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamington and backs up the previous story of how the lamington was invented.

There was one more interesting homage to the humble lamington. On the program 'Talking 'bout Your Generation' which screened on Channel 10, Tuesday 14th September, Todd Sampson was bombarded with flour, chocolate syrup and coconut to become a human lamington. To see this footage please go to the home page of TAYG at http://ten.com.au/talkin-bout-your-generation.htm and access the video link. This program was episode 18.

There are many more places for you to find lamingtons. They are a staple item in school fundraiser promotions. We eat them at Australia Day parties. They are glorified in YouTube videos and they can be found in every cake shop in Australia. Long live the lammy.


I have 'borrowed' some photos from Google Images of various styles of lamingtons. These images can be found on the next page of this blog.

Here is my video of how to prepare lamingtons with a twist...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImhEKcGDmYQ