Aussie Day Lamingtons x Two

When I was little (and when my body tolerated gluten) I loved the jam swiss rolls you could buy from the supermarket. Weekly food shop trips with Mum were always a highlight, perusing the isles of dinner options, let alone the confectionary isle where we'd occasionally sneak in a block of chocolate and hide it from my Dad. Seriously, if he'd seen that block of chocolate Mum and I wouldn't have even got a look-in! We never over ate sweets, even though Mum ran a wholesale cake shop, there was always lots of veggies on our plates. In fact my Dad will tell you that my usual after school snack was a jacket potato rather than Mum's cakes! Deliciously rich chocolate mudcakes were never my style, so, when Mum would let me buy a super soft pre-packaged jam swiss roll, ooooh I was in HEAVEN! So, with Australia Day just around the corner it only made sense that I paired my favourite jammy swiss roll with my other favourite thing, lamingtons!

So, I introduce to you my *extra* favourite (because I've just made that phrase 'proper English') the Lamington Roll. It's not new, oh no, definitely not. Yet this delicious soft gluten free sponge rolled up with strawberry jam, coated with chocolate icing and topped off with coconut, is a firm favourite round these parts. Yep. Simply delicious.Of course if you are just after a plain old square lamington, then check out my recipe for them here.

Of course, here in Australia it's pretty damn hot at this time of year. It's usually why we stick to manning our outdoor barbeques, whilst sipping on icy cold beers (or cider in my case). So, as my ice cream maker was still freezing itself solid on our return from Western Australia, I whipped up some lamington inspired pops because, lets face it, they seem to be everywhere at the moment and I wanted in on the cuteness! These also have the benefit of being egg, nut, gluten AND lactose free (make sure you use lactose free chocolate and serve without cream). Oh but they're 100% delicious.

This year, as you celebrate Australia Day on Saturday 26th January I hope that you enjoy a little of our favourite coconut treat in these recipes. Next year I promise to have a lamington free Australia Day post - hahahahaha!

Also, a big Happy Birthday to our nephew, Sam, whose birthday is the very same day!

Lamington Roll

Serves 8 

It's best to have eggs at room temperature for this recipe.  You can fill this roll with any flavour jam you wish or use cream, lemon curd or chocolate mousse with fresh berries for something different. I used raw castor sugar for this particular roll, but this is not necessary, this recipe works perfectly with normal castor sugar.

4 eggs

155g raw castor sugar+ 1tblspn for dusting

1/4tsp vanilla essence

100g gluten free plain flour (all-purpose)

1tsp gluten free baking powder

1/3 cup strawberry jam, warmed

270g gluten free pure icing sugar

1tblspn cocoa

2tbslpn boiling water

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 200degress Celsius. Line a swiss roll tin with baking paper.

Whisk eggs, 155g sugar and vanilla essence in a stand mixer on high for 2-3minutes until the eggs are light and fluffy and the mixture has tripled in size.

Triple sift the flour and baking powder. Sift over the egg mixture and gently fold in. Pour into the prepared tray and smooth out the top.

Bake for 10minutes. This sponge should rise up and be springy to the touch with a light golden brown colour.

Whilst the sponge bakes roll out another piece of baking paper the same size as your baking tin. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon of castor sugar.

When the sponge is cooked immediately, but carefully, turn the sponge upside down onto the sugared baking paper (much like you would onto a wire cooling rack). Carefully lift off the paper that the sponge was baked on and, working from the short edge carefully roll up the sponge whilst it's hot, using the edges of the baking paper as a guide as the sponge with be hot. By rolling the sponge whilst it's hot with the baking paper as a guide means that it won't crack when you fill and roll it. Allow the sponge to cool for 20-30minutes before gently unrolling. Spread with 1/3cup warm strawberry or raspberry jam and re-roll it up without the baking paper (as the paper has now served it's purpose and can be thrown out) Allow to cool completely.

Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa. Pour in the boiling water and working quickly with a spoon or fork mix together to create a thick icing. Allow to cool slightly before pouring over the sponge, otherwise it will drip right off. Once cooled pour over sponge and spread with a knife. Sprinkle with coconut.

Serve immediately with freshly whipped cream. The cream could of course go inside the roll, however, I'm too impatient for it to cool down that much, so I serve it on the side!

Lamington Pops

Makes10

600ml coconut milk

2tblspon honey

2tsp vanilla

1cup strawberries, washed and hulled

100g chocolate

Dessicated coconut

Whisk together the coconut milk, honey and vanilla. Set aside.

Blend up ths strawberries in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Pour 1/3cocnut into the bottoms of 10 x 70ml plastic containers (I used some decor baby food containers) dollop in a tablespoon of strawberries and top with coconut mixture. You can alternate the coconut and strawberry to get a nice little swirl affect.

Place on a tray. Cover each 'pop' with alfoil, tucking it in around the edges. Poke a small bamboo kebabs stick or icy pole stick through the middle of the alfoil, this will keep the stick upright whilst they freeze. Freeze for 6-12hours.

Melt the chocolate using your preferred method. Remove the pops from their molds by sitting them out on a counter for a few minutes. Dip, drizzle, or smooth the chocolate onto the tops and sprinkle the chocolate with coconut. Place pops onto a tray lined with alfoil or baking paper and return to the freezer for 10minutes to set.

Serve on a hot day.