(Image by JFC)
There is no place in the world like Australia. Not even its beautiful neighbor New Zealand. (Henry Rollins)
It’s a drizzly and overcast old Australia Day as I write this. To be honest, it’s a wee bit of a welcome respite from the heat we’ve been having lately. For me, at least.
And here at Casa TSL, it has been a B I G day. Capital letters BIG. Today we met the newest addition to our extended family.
Fang, the black miniature poodle, has arrived at my sister’s. And she is meltingly cute.
(Images by JFC)
We were invited to introduce Miss Bella, our 10-year-old pooch, to her sort of niece by way of a barbecue. It has to be said that Bella was singularly unimpressed with Fang. No matter. The rest of us fell head over heels in love… What a fluff-ball!
And, what else could I bring to an Australia Day barbie, but lamingtons? It would virtually be UN-Australian not to.
What is a lamington, you ask?
lamington
noun AUSTRALIAN/NZ
a square of sponge cake dipped in melted chocolate and grated coconut.
Of course, here at Casa TSL, a traditional lamington won’t cut it. After almost a year on the Autoimmune Protocol, we’re a 100% grain-free, mostly dairy-free household.
And, my sister and her partner are very similar, too.
And, then there was the small fact that I didn’t actually have a lamington tin in which to bake my sponge…
Time to improvise!
Adapting a recipe I found on the VERY talented Teresa Cutter’s site (The Healthy Chef), I bring you these remarkably lamington-like healthy-ish lamington cupcakes.
Completely free of any grains or dairy… they’re bloody good, mate!
Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia. (Charles M. Schulz
- 6 happy eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 Tablespoons raw honey
- ¼ cup macadamia nut oil
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- ½ cup raspberry jam or preserve*
- 1 cup desiccated coconut for rolling
- 100 g best quality dark chocolate, roughly broken up
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- Heat your oven to 160° C / 320° F. Line a muffin tray with 10 papers.
- Throw your eggs, vanilla and honey into your mixing bowl. Mix on high for 10 minutes until light and creamy.
- While the machine is still running, pour in the macadamia nut oil. Mix well.
- Add the coconut flour and baking powder. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Using a ¼ cup as a measure, pour lamington cake mix into your prepared muffin tray.
- Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until cooked through.
- Fill a piping bag with raspberry jam. Stick the nozzle into the middle of each cupcake and fill with a healthy squeeze of raspberry jam.
- While waiting for your cupcakes to cool, heat your coconut milk in a small pan until almost boiling. Turn off the heat and add your chocolate. Stir until you have a smooth silky ganache.
- When your cupcakes are cool, spread a little chocolate ganache on the top of each.
- Dip in coconut and pop onto a tray to set.
Oh, excellent! Thanks for this. I did a similar thing sort of combining Teresa Cutter’s recipe and Pete Evans’ recipe … your’s is sooooo much easier 🙂 Yum.
Hmmm – I feel it’s almost un-Australian to say this, but Pete’s ‘Paleo-esque’ lamington recipe I found in Good Food didn’t get a great reaction so I figured the lovely Teresa was a safer bet. It is REALLY easy! 🙂
Happy Anniversary day from your Beautiful Neighbour, Auckland, NZ. We are celebrating our Anniversary day too. 🙂
Hi LBG – as a fellow J.A.F.A., I know just how beautiful! Happy Anniversary day to you 🙂
Happy Australia Day! from another beautiful neighbour! 🙂 Fang looks very cute, harmless? Lamingtons look great in any shape or form. We have raspberry ones too to mix it up a little sometimes. Using jelly mix.
Hi T – I think raspberry lamingtons are a very Kiwi thing?
Fang is very cute (although Bella was unimpressed). She has very sharp teeth already, so not quite harmless!
Yay, we can truly claim raspberry lamingtons as a kiwi thing!
Congratulations on your new family member~.
She’s a cutie, Petra
mmm – those Lamingtons look delicious! And what a lovely new canine member.
Lady Fi – Bella is in for a shock. Fang is coming to stay with us in May. I’ll share with pics!
Never thought I would see such a healthy version of a classic recipe – thank you!
FW – my B-I-L thought they tasted fab’, too! That wee squirt of raspberry jam makes all the difference.
Mmmmmmhhhh i Will try these luscious cupcakes…..thank you for this yummy post!
They went down a treat with my brother-in-law, E AND super easy!
Have a great Day