Lamingtons

I got an email from the PAFA co-ordinator at the school on Tuesday evening.   After I opened it, two little words caught my eye, and I think I even let out an excited squeal.

Bake Sale!

YAY!!!!  I love a good bake sale, and I love to help out our school.  The teachers, the support staff, they are all just wonderful.  If every child got to attend a school like ours, a public school no less, I think the world would just be a better place.  

I haven't made Lamingtons in awhile, and they are always great sellers at bake sales, so these were up the very top of the 'to bake' list (and can I just say, I love it when there is something on my 'to bake' list.  With a purpose, not just because I've written it on there, to pad out my day or escape the children...).

I opted to use the Basic Slab Cake recipe for the 'sponge' portion.  I doubled the quantity to get the monstrous amount I have made today  (56 of these lovely squares!)

I spread the double quantity roughly across three trays

 Both of my 26cm square Springform tins, plus a large baking tray with nice high sides.  I improvise a lot with what I have in my kitchen, most trays if you line them well work just as good, if not better, than a slab tray that you can pay a fortune for.  

And while I'm on the topic, despite my love of not being in photographs, you've likely noticed by now that I never wear an apron.  Despite owning several, halter necks are not my friend.  And I don't mean not my friend in a 'they just don't go with these pants' or 'they make my girls look squashed' way, I mean, they irritate my neck and I end up unconsciously hunching while I wear a halter neck anything, resulting in neck and back pain for hours after a bake.  I do draw a big fashion line in the sand at wearing a smock though.  My seemingly only other option at this point if I want to look like a pro.  Which I don't.  It would be deceptive.  Not as bad as me dressing as a police officer and raiding my neighbours house because I'm pretty sure they smoke weed and I really wouldn't have minded some last Friday night, but deceptive nonetheless.

In the meantime, I make use of my wardrobe.  I've been every size from a 10 to a 22 over the past 10 years (24 if I'm honest with myself, but who is?) and am thankfully sitting at the lower end of those numbers at present.  I wear my fat clothes to bake, which gives me motivation to stay smaller.  If I gain weight, I'll be stuck in the nasty position (thanks to my love of wiping my greasy hands on myself when I'm baking...) of not only being 'fat', but, also looking like a bloody slob.


Whoops, deviating big time there.  Back to the baking at hand...


My three slabs, once cooked and cooled, were refrigerated for awhile (an hour or two is good) so that they were firmer for cutting and dunking.  If they are too crumbly and you haven't got your chocolate icing runny enough, its not pretty.  It is very messy and you'll lose a few and part of your sanity.


Chocolate Lamington Dip
Ingredients
375g Icing Mixture (yes, good old cheaper Icing Mixture works fine)
45g Cocoa Powder
35g Butter (Salted is fine, go for cheap where you can!)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
110ml Boiling Water
Dessicated Coconut, for coating

Before you whip in and mix this up, get yourself set up for when you need to start dipping.  You'll want to make the Lamington Dip just before you use it.  Its not something you'll want to start and stop as it takes twice as long doing it that way and will be much, much harder to work with.

 
You will need:-

*Pre cut lamington squares.  Cut all that you have made and have them ready to go in the size you are wanting.  Lamington Fingers will be trickier than squares, so, I recommend if its your first time, go for nice sized squares.
*Lots of greaseproof/baking paper.  One large piece (bottom right of the photo) with a nice pile of Coconut for the rolling/coating stage, and extra pieces to cover your cooling racks.  
*Utensils. Two forks for turning the lamingtons, a spoon for stirring and although not shown in the picture, grab a small plate to rest them on so you're not getting chocolate on your benches or anywhere else.
*Saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of your heatproof bowl fits snugly on top.  You will need to warm the mixture a few times during the entire process.

 *An optional helper (or 'sampler', depending on the resources at your disposal)

To make the Lamington Dip:-

Place all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl (thankfully my new mixer bowl is stainless steel so I have that bit covered) and mix together well.

  Once you've got all the ingredients mixed in well, its time to pop it atop your simmering water.  Stirring with your spoon (I just use a metal cereal spoon), heat the mixture through for roughly 2-3 minutes.   You will notice it begin to thin a little more, the longer you warm it

 Dip your spoon in and watch how fast the mixture runs off it.  The cooler the mixture gets, the more it thickens and the more you will use on each piece of sponge.  If it is too thick and stiff, it will rip away at the sponge pieces.  Too runny and you won't get a good coverage on each piece.  If you're struggling to get it thin enough, you can add a little more boiling water.  Add about a teaspoonful at a time, as you really don't want to thin it out very much at all via way of additional water.


You want to err on the side of runny.  If it is too runny, its easy to let it sit for a minute and stiffen slightly, or even double dip! Its a PITA to go back and forth from your simmering water much, much more so.

So you're set up, you've got the choc dip at the right consistency, its time to dip and roll.

 Drop the pieces of sponge in the chocolate dip, you want the 'top' of your sponge pieces to be facing down into the mixture.  When you turn them, it is much easier to lift the sturdier 'bottom' of the sponge than the more crumbly top.

Using your forks, turn the piece of sponge cake over, then lift out.

Allow to drain off for a few seconds, while the dip is running fast, allow it to keep dripping.  Once you get slower, larger 'globs', you're ready to move to the coconut.

Push the coconut from either side up to and over the sponge piece, patting it generously around the sides as you go each time. 

I pat and 'firm' the sides up, then move across to the baking paper covered cooling racks.

Move them into the fridge for at least an hour once you are done.  Cooling them will really cement the dip properly, and make them edible consistency (delicious as soon as done, but, sticky and messy and you'll have it all over your fingers!) much, much quicker.


I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to start fixing up the blog.  I want to make a section for the recipes for quick reference, and I need to learn how to tag so I can make things easier for people to navigate my 'all over the shop' style.  I am praying that I can put the recipes up in their full original format, for people to copy and print off or save, without too much drama (I have a site to read to learn how to do these things at some point, lol) as I understand how confusing it is having part of a recipe in a blog, then my rambled, long winded instructions and carry on.  The good thing is, I have made forward progress with regard to pictures and uploading, so my blog updates take about 1/4 of the time they used to.  Mucho relieved.