Lamington Men

Following along with Nurture Store's Simple play:: complex learning series and keeping in mind that Australia Day is this Sunday, we're sharing our Lamington Men Recipe with you today. 

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Last year my Mum and Dad gave Bubbles, The Lamington Man written by Kel Richards. 

You may recognise Kel Richards as the author of the humorous Aussie Bible, in true Kel style he 'Aussifies' the classic we all know and love 'the Gingerbread man' in fantastic rhyming verse accompanied by plenty of quirky humour by illustrator, Glen Singleton. 

Bubbles absolutely loved the book and it didn't take me long to offer to help her make her very own lamington man.

Lamington Men Recipe

Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 cup SR Flour
1/3 cup plain flour
1 cup milk
2 cups dessicated coconut

For icing:
2 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
50g butter, finely chopped
1/2 cup boiling water

Decorations (optional)
Mini marshmallows cut in half widthways
Blue and red icing gel pens

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced.
Grease a 6cm deep, 19cm base, lamington pan and line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper 2cm above edges of pan on all sides.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
Sift over half the flours.
Add half the milk.
Stir to combine.
Repeat with remaining flours and milk.
Spoon mixture into pan. Smooth top and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Stand in pan for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Freeze overnight.
Remove cake from freezer and make icing.
Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a heatproof bowl.
Add butter and boiling water.
Stir until smooth.
Cut cake into men by using a metal gingerbread man cookie cutter. (It's easier to do this when the cake is still mostly frozen.)
Dip men in chocolate icing mixture allowing excess to drip off.
Toss in coconut and place on a wire rack set over a baking tray.
Stand for 1 hour or until set.
You can serve your lamington men plain or you can do as Bubbles requested and decorate them with any decorations you may have on hand, we used mini mashmallows cut in half widthways and icing gel pens.

Freezer Tip: Wrap batches of lamington men in plastic wrap, then foil. Place in a snap-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

What's your favourite Australia Day treat?

-Victoria


For more activities like this check out my new book Learn with Play. It’s a collaborative work, written by myself and 93 other amazing bloggers, mothers, teachers and early childhood educators. The e-book comes with links to over 300 activities!

  Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.  You know you're infant/child best, use your own judgement-considering your infant/child's temperament, habits, behaviour and development before you play with a new play medium.