Ystervarkies / Lamingtons

It seems these delicious squares of cake were ever-present at social gatherings when I was a child. No wonder though - they are so good! The addition of whipped cream and jam is something I came to (and love) here in New Zealand. Find a large cake version here.

If you don’t have self-raising flour, use plain/cake/all-purpose flour with baking powder instead (2 teaspoons/10ml baking powder for every 1 cup/150g of flour). I like the lightness of a vanilla sponge cake, but a butter cake works well too. For a dairy-free version, use coconut cream instead of cream.

Enough for a 20cm square cake to make 16 generous lamington squares

VANILLA SPONGE CAKE BATTER

eggs, 3

cold water, 60ml (1/4 cup)

oil, 60ml (1/4 cup) - a neutral flavour oil works well (I like grapeseed oil)

vanilla extract or paste, 15ml (1 tablespoon)

caster sugar, 200g (250ml or 1 cup)

self-raising flour, 150g (250ml or 1 cup)

cornflour, 50g (80ml or 1/3 cup)

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

water, 125g (125ml or 1/2 cup)

sugar, 200g (250ml or 1 cup)

dark chocolate (preferably 70% cocoa solids or more), 150g

cocoa powder, 50g (125ml or 1/2 cup)

fresh cream, 60g (60ml or 1/4 cup)

TO ASSEMBLE:

desiccated coconut, about 100g (250ml or 1 cup) to coat

whipped cream and raspberry jam to serve - optional

To start, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line with baking paper (or grease well) a 20cm square cake tin.

Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the whites in another clean, dry mixing bowl (or the bowl of a free-standing mixer).

To the egg yolks, add all the wet ingredients as well as the caster sugar, then whisk until uniform.

Add the self-raising flour and cornflour and whisk until uniform.

Beat the egg whites on a high speed until stiff peaks.

Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter mixture using a large metal spoon or spatula (at first just a little to loosen the mixture, then gently fold in the rest).

Pour the batter into the tin and bake until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean (approximately 30 minutes but will depend on your oven - be careful not to overbake the sponge).

Once baked, remove the tin from the oven and leave the sponge (in the tin) to cool for 10 minutes or so before turning out onto a cooling rack or cake plate to cool completely (cover with a clean tea towel to prevent moisture from evaporating).

For the chocolate glaze, place the water and sugar in a medium saucepan set over a medium heat and whisk every now and then until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil then remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add the chocolate (broken/chopped into medium size pieces), cocoa (sieved) and cream and whisk until smooth.

To assemble, cut the cooled cake into 16 squares.