Fresh cherry and coconut lamingtons
Lamingtons, originally from Australia, make a delicious teatime treat. Mini cakes, decorated in cherry jam and desiccated coconut, topped with a fresh cherry
- 100g unsalted butterplus a little extra for the tin
- 200g cherries
- 250g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 150g full-fat coconut yogurt or Greek yogurt
- 50ml sunflower oil
- 250g golden caster sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 medium eggsplus 1 yolk
DECORATION
- a jar cherry jam
- 100g desiccated or shredded coconut
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal582
- fat26.1g
- carbs80.9g
- fibre3.5g
- protein6.8g
- salt0.6g
Method
step 1
Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3½. Butter a 20cm square, deep cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. Set aside 9 cherries, then stone and finely dice the rest and leave in a sieve while you make the batter. Sift together the flours, baking powder and a good pinch of salt, then set 2 tbsp of it aside.
step 2
Beat the butter, yogurt, oil, sugar and vanilla in a big mixing bowl until smooth. Add the eggs and yolk, one at a time, beating between each addition. Beat in the flour mixture, then toss the diced cherries with the reserved 2 tbsp flour mix to coat and fold these in. Scrape into the tin and bake for 50-55 minutes until a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean. Cover the tin with foil and cool the cake completely (this helps to keep the sponge from drying out).
step 3
Turn the cake out onto a tray and freeze for 30 minutes to firm it up. Trim the edges to make them even and straight, then divide into 9 squares.
step 4
Heat the jam in a pan or microwave until hot, then sieve into a bowl. Spread the coconut on a plate and dunk each cake first into the jam to coat all sides (except the bottom), then the coconut (stick a fork into the base to help). Top each with a cherry and leave for an hour to set and defrost fully.
