Last Second Entry—S’More Lamingtons

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Mr. P extended the deadline to enter the Re-Inventing the Lamginton Contest, so I thought I'd give it one more shot. Of course, I've left it to the last minute to post the recipe and only have a few minutes left, so this will be a brief post. And, please pardon any grammatical or spelling errors.

For my first two entries, I did Argentine and Austrian inspired Lamingtons. I thought I'd do another international version. However, I couldn't come up with any good ideas. Actually, I came up with some pretty horrid ideas. How does a Japanese Lamginton with seaweed and little dried fish sound? See what I mean? Not so great.

After much contemplation, I decided to make a totally American Lamington. But, what's totally American? It seems like all of our cuisine has been borrowed from somewhere. After looking through some vacation pictures of the family in Carpinteria at our favorite beach, I knew what I had to make—Lamingtons based on that famous campfire dessert, S'Mores.

I made the Lamgintons out of graham cracker pound cake filled with marshmallow cream. I then covered them in chocolate and sprinkled each with graham cracker crumbs. They were somewhat messy, but that just added to the authenticity.

My family has certainly enjoyed my Lamington experimentations, and they certainly loved these s'more versions. My son even said, "Dad, You're the best Lamington maker in the world." I'm not sure about that, but that's compliment enough to know these are pretty darn good and that you should give them a try.

The picture's not the best, but that's what you get when you're in a hurry.

If it's too cold for camping or you want something a little more gourmet, these will do the trick.

Re-Invent the Lamington Contest Entries—Alfajore Lamingtons and Sacher Lamingtons

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I just looked at my calendar.

January 26...

Hmm... Do I have something going on today that I can't remember? It sure seems like I do. But what?

Aaaaah! It's the deadline for the Re-Inventing the Lamingtons Contest! I wanted to enter the contest last year, but never got around to it. When I saw that Mr. P was holding the contest again, I decided I was not going to procrastinate and submit an entry. Now, it's the last day, and with the time difference, I probably only have a little bit of time to get this entry posted.

I'll let you read through Mr. P's entertaining blog for the history and background of the contest. But basically, a lamington is an Australian dessert consisting of squares of cake with a jam filling covered in chocolate and shredded coconut. For this contest, you just have to get creative.

So, I would like to submit two entries.

First, I give you the Argentine inspired Alfore Lamingtons. I actually created it last year after the first Re-Inventing the Lamington Contest had already ended, so click on the link to read all about them. These are sooo incredibly good. I have made them several times, and they always receive rave reviews. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with Dulce de Leche.

Seriously YUM, YUM YUM!

And now for my second entry—the Austrian inspired Sacher Lamington.

Vienna is possibly my favorite city in the world, and it's famous for the Sachertorte. In 2009, I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday at the Sacher Hotel and enjoy a slice of heaven. The Sachertorte is a chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and covered in a dark chocolate ganache.

I decided to create a Lamington based on this cake. For the cake, I wanted something dense that could easily be dipped in chocolate. I chose to make two loaves of Rose Levy Beranbaum's Chocolate Bread. For the filling, I used my wife's marvelous homemade apricot jam. After cutting the cake into squares and spreading on the jam, I covered the Lamingtons in semi-sweet chocolate. Since the original Lamington is covered in shredded coconut, I wanted to add one more ingredient. However, coconut did not seem to fit well with the Sachertorte theme. I looked around the grocery store for inspiration and basically came up with nothing until I hit the candy aisle. I decided to sprinkle shavings of the best and darkest European chocolate I could find, which happened to be Lindt's Excellence 99% Cocoa Bar.

Here is the result.

Wunderbar!

To be really authentic, serve your Sacher Lamington with a big dollop of whipped cream.

I brought these to a dinner party recently, where they were a huge hit. I definitely plan to make them again.

Well, there you have them, my two entries in this year's Re-Invent the Lamington Contest. I've already begun thinking of other countries to inspire more Lamington recipes. Hopefully, Mr. P will sponsor the contest again next year, and hopefully, I will be a little more on the ball.


Wish me luck!