Bloody Poofy Woolly Chocolate Lamingtons

My final set of Lamingtons. This time made with a rich chocolate cake and filled with a bittersweet whipped chocolate ganache.

I've taken Chuck's Lamington quote and broken it down into its essential components: the bloody, the poofy and the woolly. (Wasn't that a western?)

Anyway, to create the Lamingtons I glazed little two-bite ganache filled cakes with dark chocolate and then coated them in three substances I thought would be quote-appropriate.

The 'bloody' is made from left over cake crumbs from yesterday's Red Velvet Lamington. The 'woolly' is coated with shaggy chocolate jimmies. Finally, the 'poofy' being golden toasted coconut.

Now, I know that two of these Lamingtons lack coconut and I dared use chocolate cake for all three, but I can do that... right?

Some folks are serious about their lamingtons

Maybe not...

I got a comment on my Raspberry White Chocolate Lamington last night from a member of the Lamington Preservation Society, calling me out on my perverse rendition of such a sacred snack cake.

Seemingly, despite my use of coconut, chocolate (albeit white), jam and butter cake (all considered common building blocks of a Lamington) I was informed my snack cake was NOT a Lamington, it is just a cake.

Of course, this fuss over cake amused me greatly.

So, lets get down to the Laming... oh sorry, the "Just Cakes" shall we!

Not So Humble's Bloody Poofy Woolly Chocolate Just Cake-Cakes!

The base of these cakes is another one of Rose's Heavenly Cakes the final one I'll be doing out of her book on the blog. This is her devil's food and of course, like every other cake I've baked from the book, it has turned out divine.

Note: The filling for these cakes needs to be made the day before, so plan accordingly.

Rose's Heavenly Devils Food Cake:

adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes

yields roughly 30 lamingtons

1 oz bittersweet chocolate

63 grams dutch processed cocoa

1 cup boiling water

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

225 grams cake flour

326 grams light brown Muscovado sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a medium heat-safe bowl combine the boiling water, the chocolate and the cocoa and mix until smooth. Place the bowl into the refrigerator to cool.

Butter and flour a 9x13 inch pan and line with a piece of parchment.

In a bowl, mix together the egg yolks, eggs, vanilla and sour cream and set aside.

In your stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt for a minute on low speed. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the ingredients are crumbly. Scrape down the sides and add the egg mixture, beating for 90 seconds until light and well blended.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the cooled chocolate mixture while mixing on low speed. Once added raise the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds, until slightly fluffy.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and with a couple of strokes from a silicone spatula scrape down the sides and bottom to mix in any remaining chocolate and then pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Slide a offset spatchula around the sides of the cake to release and then carefully unmold onto the rack to cool completely.

Once cool, cut into small cubes, roughly 1.5-2" and they are ready to fill.

Not so Humble's Whipped Dark Chocolate Ganache:

190 grams dark chocolate, finely chopped

320 mL heavy cream

Bring the heavy cream to a simmer and pour over the chopped chocolate. Allow the mixture to stand for one minute and then gently stir to blend and dissolve the chocolate.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day the mixture will have a thick, fudge like texture and will be ready to whip. Add the ganache to your stand mixer and using the whisk attachment beat until light and fluffy.

Split and fill your Lamingtons with the whipped ganache and then allow them to chill in the refrigerator for an hour before glazing.

Dark Chocolate Glaze:

8oz dark chocolate finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

Bring the cream to a simmer and pour over the chocolate and allow to sit for one minute. Stir gently until smooth. Allow to cool until luke warm and syrupy and then glaze or spread onto your cakes.

If glazing, before reusing the glaze strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove any crumbs. Warm in the microwave for a few seconds to keep it fluid. For a thinner glaze use more warm cream.

Now the Lamingtons are ready to coat.

The amounts given for the following will yield roughly 10 of each type of Lamington:

Poofy Toasted Coconut Lamingtons: add 1 cup of desiccated coconut to a dry pan and toast over medium-low heat for roughly five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Allow the coconut to cool and fill a shallow dish. Dip the glazed Lamingtons into the coconut and then set aside to dry for two hours before serving.

Blood-Red Velvet Crumb Lamingtons: Process enough red velvet cake to yield one cup of crumbs in your food processor. Fill a shallow dish with them and roll the glazed cakes in the crumbs.

Set the cakes aside to dry for two hours before serving.

Woolly Chocolate Lamingtons: Fill a dish with 1/4-1/2lb of chocolate jimmies and coat each side of the Lamingtons. Set aside and allow to dry for two hours before serving.