Lamington Bites

I'm not sure what prompted me to make these cute lamington bites... It could possibly be the list of ever growing "to bake" recipes i have starred in my gmail :P

I'm sure most of you do this as well? See something online that you want to make ----> copy paste into an email ----> mail it to yourself ----> 'starr/bookmark' it for a later date. (or copy paste into word document, then save in a special folder called "bake when you have time!" or something along those lines. (i do this too actually hehe), or have a special bookmarked folder on your computer with a bunch of saved links (yes, i do this as well haha..)

From looking at my email right now i can tell you the last 10 things i've saved..

1. golden syrup scones link here

2. chocolate and peanut butter fondant link here

3. okinomiyaki from this website which i copied and paste so i'm not sure of the link

4. valentines day cupcakes (which i never got around to making) link here

5. caramelised banana crepes with roasted macadamias and caramel sauce link here

6. thumb print cookies link here

7. choc chip cookies link here

8. rainbow cake link here

9. spanakopita link here

10. red velvet cupcakes link here

80% sweet, 20% savoury.

But lamington bites weren't starred, bookmarked or saved anywhere. I think i saw them in a cooking magazine, a lamington squares recipe (must've been in food ideas because i have a bunch of them in my room). But i thought to myself why not make them into smaller bite sized pieces, less guiltier sized pieces that you can just pop into your mouth as a quick & naughty snack.

Well on this occasion, my sister was having some friends over so i thought i'd take this chance to treat them as my test tasting guinea pigs :P

I never knew how simple it was to make lamingtons at home. All it involves is baking cupcakes, make the icing, dip into icing, roll into coconut - and that's it.

The icing is absorbed into the outer layer of the cupcake, and when you roll it into the coconut - the coconut attaches itself to all the wet icing bits and you're left with a dry lamington piece :)

And the verdict? Almost all of them finished! I did try one small one myself (i only allow myself to try a small piece of my baking .. if i were to have anymore i'd be so fat, and all my hard work at the gym goneskies!)

Cupcake was moist, the chocolate icing had set with the coconut and it was like having a piece of chocolate cake, but with icing on all sides (if only that were true everytime you had a slice of cake hehe).

I REALLY recommend trying to make these at home, it was heaps of fun dipping and rolling and seeing the final product, and because its a cupcake mix instead of a sponge you get a bit more dense cake (well i prefer it this way over an airy spongey cake)

As you can see i've made small ones and large ones, personally the smaller ones are my favourite. And here is the recipe, have fun!

Cupcake batter:

makes about 12 muffin sized ( or 48 small cupcake sized)

1.1/3 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

100g softened butter

3/4 cup casor sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tbs vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Pre heat oven to 170"c

Sift together flour & baking powder.

In a separate bowl, cream butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar a third at a time, beating for two minutes after each addition. After the last addition, beat until mixture is light & fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved.

Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

Add a third of the flour to the creamed mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Add half the milk and beat until combined. Repeat this process. Add the remaining third of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined (do not over beat cos this will toughen the mixture)

Spoon into cupcake patties and bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tray and let cool completely before proceeding with the icing/coconut part below

Chocolate icing

300g (2 cups) icing sugar mixture

35g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder

60ml (1/4 cup) milk

60ml (1/4 cup) boiling water

170g (2 cups) desiccated coconut

To make the chocolate icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl.

Add the milk and water and stir until smooth.

Use 2 forks to dip each cupcake into the warm icing to evenly coat. Allow any excess icing to drip off.

Use your fingers to roll the cake in the coconut to evenly coat, then place on a wire rack.

Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, icing and coconut.

Set aside for 1 hour or until icing sets.