Lamington, meet Meringue. (and please try to play nice)
Sooo a few days ago I tried to replicate this beautiful, fluffy meringue lamington with a more traditional, chocolate lamington inside.
Started off by baking and assembling some cute little ‘lamingtons’ - really just chocolate-covered mini sponge cakes since I don’t like coconut and coated the bites in cocoa powder instead. (Recipe after the jump!)
Next, I whipped up a beautiful, white, soft & fluffy meringue. Don’t you want to just jump right in and frolic in the fluff?? I was nervous about this part since I’ve never tried making meringue before and always heard it was difficult to do properly. It was actually fairly straightforward and fun playing with the fluff - this tip sheet was very helpful (detailed instructions below). So far so good!
Then, I spooned the meringue over each ‘lamington’ to cover them completely and baked them for about 10 minutes to brown the tops a bit.
Looking good, right?
Unfortunately, despite the good looks from the outside, I had a very rough time cutting through the meringue - it was very soft and sticky, which I wanted, but even a wet knife couldn’t cut through without sticking and wreaking ugly havoc - so I decided to bake them for a while longer to dry them out a little. And then stuck them in the freezer for a few minutes to firm them up even further. Seems like a reasonable solution, right?
Big mistake!!! Huge! My cute fluffy balls transformed irreversibly into this:
I could now cut through them much more easily but totally lost the big jolly fluffiness and beautiful lightly browned shell I had before. The horror! I should have predicted that more heat followed by freezing would deflate and discolor the meringues…too late now.
Fortunately there was still a substantial layer of fluffy sticky meringue hidden inside, and I actually found this end result to be very tasty despite being far less attractive than this (scroll down on the linked page for a beautiful cross-sectional photo!). Because the meringue is so sticky and sweet, having less of it paired with a chewy outer coat was actually a good balance for me. The sponge cakes hidden in the middle were softer than I would have liked, and the chocolate coating bled in too far on the bottoms - again, probably due to the overcooking - but they were still quite tasty, a good textural contrast to the sticky and chewy meringue.
I asked Ms. Humble how she managed to cut through her lightly cooked, still very moist meringue lamington so cleanly, and she advised using a VERY SHARP damp knife. Didn’t occur to me at the time to make sure my knife was very sharp, but I will definitely remember for next time.
All in all, not my proudest creation, but the semi-success was still very satisfactory and gobbled up without hesitation. The ‘lamingtons’ were also very tasty alone - a much firmer, better texture having just been chilled in the fridge, no extra baking time in the oven.
Obviously still lots of improvement needed, but a good first attempt!
Lamington Meringues (meringue- and chocolate-covered mini sponge cakes)
12 cakes
For sponge cake:
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 c. all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c. milk
For chocolate coating:
4 c. powdered/confectioner’s sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
Suggested toppings: cocoa powder, dessicated coconut
For meringue:
6 egg whites (be careful to not get any yolk in with the whites - any kind of oil or fat that is present can interfere with achieving a nice fluffy meringue)
1 1/2 c. powdered/confectioner’s sugar (contains cornstarch, which helps stabilize the meringue/foam)
Prepare chocolate-covered sponge cakes: Use this recipe with the following notes:
1. Freeze cake before cutting for easier, cleaner cuts and fewer crumbs when dipping in chocolate. To reduce crumbs even more, freeze cakes after dipping, then dip in a second coat of chocolate (prepare more chocolate coating if necessary). Freeze again before serving or covering with meringues to maintain a nice spongey but firm texture.
2. If you’re like me and don’t like coconut, roll the squares in cocoa powder or other toppings instead. This substitution means the cakes are no longer considered traditional lamingtons (or even lamingtons at all, to some folks), if you care about that sort of thing…
You can stop right here and serve the lamingtons as is, or proceed to the next step to cover the cakes with meringue for more complex (and delicious, in my opinion) lamington meringues.
Prepare meringue: In a clean, dry metal bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium for several minutes, until soft peaks form.
Slowly add in sugar while beating on high. Beat for several more minutes, until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat!
Assemble and bake lamington meringues: Preheat oven to 350 F. Place chilled lamingtons on a baking sheet 2-3 inches apart. Pipe or spoon about 1/3 c. meringue onto each square, covering it completely. Bake in oven for 5-10 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Serve immediately. To cut through meringues, use a very sharp knife dipped in cold water.
