Aussie Food Shop recommends Express Post delivery for this item in order for the product to arrive before the expiry date is due. This product infact is 'best before' 10/15 days only.
Lamingtons is a sponge cake (or, more traditionally, butter cake) in the shape of a cube, coated in a layer of traditionally chocolate icing then desiccated coconut. They are sometimes served as two halves with a layer of cream and/or strawberry jam between, and are commonly found in Australian outlets such as coffee lounges, lunch bars, bakeries, and supermarkets.
The chocolate coating is a thin mixture, into which cubes of sponge cake are dipped, and the chocolate is absorbed into the outermost layers of the sponge where it sets. The cubes are then covered with coconut and left to set.
They have traditionally been popular as fund raisers for Australian youth groups such as Scouts, Guides and churches. These annual events are termed "Lamington drives." They can be on a large scale with dozens of helpers. The cake is supplied by commercial bakeries in large slabs and cut into about 40mm cubes. Teams of volunteers work together, dipping the cake into the chocolate icing and rolling it in the coconut. Generally they are packaged up into one dozen lots for distribution within communities which have been solicited for orders ahead of time. In the early twenty first century these type of community bonding events are becoming obstructed by food handling regulations. Commercial entrepreneurs have also produced "branded" alternatives. In Australia, they are seen as a typical Australia Day food.
Lamingtons are most likely named after Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, who served as Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. However, the precise reasoning behind this is not known, and stories vary. According to one account, the dessert resembled the homburg hats favoured by Lord Lamington. Another tells of a cook of lord lamington accidentally dropped a block of sponge cake into a dish of chocolate. Later on It was discovered to be very nice with desiccated coconut sprinkled over the top.
