This cold lasted five days and consumed two rolls of toilet paper. The fat, Costco rolls. Thank the Lord that's over.
This post contains a recipe for Lamingtons, which is a dessert favored by Australians. (All except for Elizabeth, the darling teenage girl I met on Waikiki beach, who said, "I don't like them.")
I made Lamingtons because this year, my oldest son did the fifth grade Nation Notebook. At his school, every fifth grader researches a different country (rule: must be in the eastern hemisphere) and completes a seventy-page workbook on the place. The book is packed with folklore, facts, figures, photographs (pasted in by student) and essays.
R's teacher assigned him Australia. The Spouse and I were thrilled, especially when our son had to write a page on Australian music. We basically took over at that point. "Olivia Newton-John!" cried the Spouse. "Midnight Oil," said I. "THE BEE GEES!!" We yelled in unison. Of course we learned Waltzing Matilda on the guitar, in case you thought we stuck exclusively to pop, and we listened to Tie me Kangaroo Down, and My Boomerang Won't Come Back online.
After finishing the book and presenting to the class, the fifth graders held a cultural feast. Each student brought a homemade dish typical to their country, and parents were invited. I tried Ghanian fritters, Swedish meatballs, Filipino adobo, Chinese dumplings, etc.
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We contributed Lamingtons, which you can find in most bakeries in Australia. Lamingtons are jam-filled sponge cakes cut into squares, covered with chocolate icing and rolled in coconut.
I looked online and settled on a Martha Stuart recipe. I think my fifth-grader was actually supposed to do the baking, but I chose a quiet afternoon when the boys were at school...and besides, by that point none of us parents had any illusions about our role in this Nation Notebook. ("I have my life back!" said one mom when the final due date arrived.)
First, if you follow the Martha recipe, you sift absolutely everything because Martha is a sifting Nazi:
Then you make the cakes, spread one with jam, and stack them.
Sorry that photo is a little over-exposed. I actually had to make four cakes because there are fifty fifth-graders. You needn't do that. The next step is to cut the cakes into squares, make chocolate icing on the double-boiler, dip the cakes in, and roll them in coconut.
You might be able to see in the photo that the coconut isn't the usual shredded coconut. The recipe calls for desiccated coconut. I found it at Winco.
When you finish, your kitchen will be splattered in chocolate, as if a sweet bomb exploded. This is why I did this project when the boys were at school, because I'm that sort of mom. (Making Lamingtons would be a fun afternoon project with a couple nice, sedate daughters. Or, if you're rich and have a maid to clean up, go ahead and try it with your sons.)
The Lamingtons tasted delicious, especially with a glass of cold milk. They were a hit at the fifth-grade feast.
Since we're talking about Australia, I'll finish with a little story. Years ago, as the Spouse and I were driving along a particularly sad section of Mill Plain Boulevard, he noticed a tanning parlor with an Australian marketing theme. "Tan Down Under..." he read the sign. "NOT a good name."
Click here for Martha Stuart's Lamingtons recipe.
