Lamingtons & Lasagna

If it’s acceptable to put vegemite in lasagne, kangaroo on pizza, and mango in a tiramisu, then surely no one can argue the toss when it comes to turning the lamington – one of Australia’s greatest afternoon tea cakes – into an Italian.

While wide-spread Australianisation of Italian dishes is common, the reverse is not. So I took the lamington – that small square of sponge cake, dipped in a chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut – and created the Italamington – a bit difficult to say, but very easy to eat…

It was not an easy process. While I believe in culinary innovation, I am against the outright bastardisation of national dishes (see Crimes against pizza for more on this view).

So, in order to ensure the respectful renovation of the lamington, a series of discussions were convened with a variety of experts to understand the true essence of this Antipodean symbol.  Notably, these discussions included the rather helpful Gaby from Nourished Within and the rather less helpful David, former afternoon tea correspondant at the Balmain Village Voice. Wine was also involved.

After much heated debate, it was decided that a cake could still proudly hold the title of lamington if it retained its traditional shape, was made from sponge, and was dipped and rolled. All other elements – the ingredients and the method – were up for grabs.

Controversially, we also decided that while purists believe the jam and cream sometimes found in the middle of the lamington to be heresy, a filling was not just acceptable in the making of this cross-cuisine sweet but vital in communicating its new found Italianità.

The sponge cake, as the foundation, was important. I wanted it to be as Italian as possible, so instead of the typical Australian sponge, I decided to be a tosser, I mean, to be as authentic as possible, and consult Pellegrino Artusi’s 1891 Italian food bible, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. While it only asked for four ingredients , one of them was “Hungarian flour” which needed to be “dried on the fire or in the sun”.  Also, as the KitchenAid had not been invented yet, it wanted me to work “the dough for half an hour”.

That all sounded rather too authentic for my liking, so I halved the recipe for the Italian Sponge Cake in the Larousse Gastronomique, and, miracle of miracles, despite involving the separation of yolk from white and the dreaded instructions “fold carefully”, all usual indicators of epic baking failure for me, the success of the sponge seemed to imply I could actually bake. Hooray!

After letting the sponge go stale, I sliced it through the middle horizontally, drizzled it with Frangelico and, after downing a glass or two of the afore mentioned liqueur, was inspired to fill it with a mix of crushed hazelnuts, ricotta and espresso coffee. It was then cut into small squares, dipped in Callebaut dark chocolate and coated in crushed flaked almonds.

The verdict? Well, from the mouth of Romano Cammarano, a man not known just as my father but a critic of food so fearless he makes Anton Ego  look like Marcia Hines, “this is the best things you have ever cooked. You are allowed to make it again”.

The Italamington is a triumph of Italian and Australian know-how and ingredients. Try it, and see what you think….

Italamingtons (Italian Lamingtons)

Ingredients

Sponge cake:

• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 eggs, separated
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup plain flour
• ½ cup corn flour
• Butter, caster sugar and cornflour to grease and dust cake tin
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico (optional)
• 220 g flaked almonds, finely chopped

Icing:

• 220 g dark couverture chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup thickened cream

Filling:

• ¾ cup ricotta
• 2 tablespoon thickened cream
• 1 tablespoon hazelnuts, crushed
• 1 tablespoon espresso coffee
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Method

For the sponge:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Grease a 20x20cm cake tin and dust with a mix of caster sugar and cornflour.
3. Beat the sugar with the vanilla and egg yolks until well combined.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.
5. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolks until just combined.
6. In another bowl, sift the plain flour and corn flour together.
7. Fold flour mixture carefully and quickly into the eggs.
8. Pour mixture into prepared tin.
9. Bake for about 40 minutes. The cake is done when it is light golden in colour and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
10. When the cake is cool, slice through the middle and leave it to go stale (about a day).

For the icing:

1. Put the chocolate and cream in a metal bowl.
2. Sit the metal bowl above a saucepan of simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water.
3. Stir with a metal spoon until the chocolate has melted. Leave aside to cool.

For the filling:

1. Blend the ricotta, cream, hazelnuts, espresso coffee, sugar and vanilla in a food processor until well combined.

To assemble the Italamingtons:

1. If using, sprinkle the Frangelico over the inside halves of both sides of the sponge.
2. Spread one half with the filling and sandwich cake halves together.
3. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut sponge into 25 small squares.
4. Take one cake square, insert a skewer through the middle and rest over the top of a small bowl. Carefully drizzle the chocolate mixture over the square, using a knife to help it spread.
5. Roll in crushed almonds and place square on wire rack to set.
6. Repeat until finished and keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Bibliography:

• Artusi, Pellegrino. Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.
• Larousse Gastronomique. Great Britain: Hamlyn, 2009. 

Tags: cross-culinary creations, Lamingtons