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Smoking Chimney

Recipes from a working kitchen · Cape Town

Lamingtons

By Marna Ross Updated 12 August 2026 4.50 from 28 ratings Australian
Lamingtons is a delicious treat and it takes me back to my childhood days. My mom used to make these for us kids in our house. Maybe this is also where my love for becoming a Chef started? Who knows? Any how, I know lamingtons with a chocolate sauce, but I have also discovered you can make a lovely strawberry variation as well as a snow flake variation. Lamingtons need a solid cake as base, otherwise the cake with crumble too much when working with the syrup and the desiccated coconut. And the cake must be cooled very well. If it is too hot, it will crumble too and leave a mess. A quick note on the syrup as well: The cake must not be dipped in the chocolate syrup for too long.To be creative at kiddies parties, colour the desiccated coconut with food colouring to fit in well with the colour scheme of the party! Or use food colouring and colour the cake into the colour of choice. It leaves a nice surprise after the first bite discovering the beautiful colour scheme inside! This recipe is from my chef school days, back at Warwick Chef School. and I would like to dedicate this one to them. I used to make them quite a lot for our Afrikaans group finger functions at Augusta Kleinbosch Guest Farm.
Classic Australian lamington sponge cake cubes coated in chocolate sauce and rolled in coconut flakes.
Prep 10 min
Cook 1 h
Total 1 h 10 m
Serves 24

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Ingredients

Cake

  • 250 g margarine
  • 500 ml sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 125 ml milk
  • 750 ml flour
  • 10 ml baking powder
  • pinch of salt

Syryp

  • 170 ml sugar
  • 200 ml cocoa powder
  • 375 ml water
  • 15 ml margarine
  • coconut to roll in

Method

Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius

  2. Beat the sugar and margarine together in a bowl until light and fluffy

  3. Add the eggs one by one and beat until light and spongy

  4. Add the milk and beat well

  5. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, and add it to the egg mixture

  6. Pour the mixture into a 25 x 30 cm pan and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean

  7. This will depend on your oven strength

  8. Cut into squares and allow to cool before dipping in the syrup and rolling in the coconut

Syrup

  1. Mix the sugar, cocoa powder and water together and bring to a boil while stirring

  2. Add the margarine and stir until well combined

Assembling

  1. Dip each square into hot syrup but do not soak

  2. Roll each one carefully in thick coconut and let dry on a wire rack

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