Lamingtons are cake, rolled in chocolate, and covered in coconut flakes. Sounds pretty good, right? Well they are pretty good and now you can try them out and still stick to your Paleo lifestyle.
We’ve made a few changes to a standard cake recipe in order to make these Lamingtons Paleo. The first step was replacing the wheat flour with coconut flour. You can find coconut flour in the health food aisle of most major groceries stores these days or if you’re in a health food store, look for it with the other flours in the baking area. We also replaced the sugar in the cake with honey and I promise you won’t know the difference.
As my Lamington cake was baking, I wondered where their name came from. My first guess was that they were named after little furry lambs because the coconut flakes do make them look that way. But I took to the internet and learned that they are actually named for a late-nineteenth century governor of Queensland, in Australia, Lord Lamington. I wish I had a cake named after me!
The traditional icing for a Lamington is a chocolate glaze. We’re making this from scratch, the Paleo way. Instead of store-bought chocolate icing, which is packed with unnecessary sugar, we’re using honey, coconut oil, and cacao powder, a more raw form of chocolate, to make our icing. I actually prefer this chocolate frosting to store-bought because it’s darker and richer and not overly sweet.
One tip: make sure your cake is honestly totally really cooled all the way when you cut it. The slightest amount of warmth still in your cake will make the icing run right off of it. That’s not because it’s Paleo – you’ll know if you’ve ever made a cake, that’s true for all cakes! When the cake is all the way at room temperature, then it’s time for the frosting.
After you’ve given the cake bites a nice chocolate bath, roll them in the coconut and set the pieces aside to set…if you can. I’m woman enough to admit that I popped the first one right into my mouth!
But I saved enough that when I served coffee and my Lamingtons after dinner with friends, there were more than enough to go around, which was good, because they were a big hit. I like to surprise my friends by making things that they won’t think are Paleo – and this was another success. There’s no way to tell that you’ve used coconut flour and honey and cacao powder instead of the traditional ingredients – the taste and texture are just what you want!
So the next time you’re looking for a tasty cake bite (goes great with tea in the afternoon, by the way), I highly suggest you try out these Paleo Lamingtons!
Ingredients
- For the sponge cake
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 6 eggs
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- For the icing
- 2 tbsp honey
- ½ cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- For rolling
- 2 cups shredded coconut
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking pan and line with baking paper. Set aside.
- Place the coconut flour and baking powder in a blender or food processor and pulse a few times to combine. In a large bowl beat the eggs with honey. Pour in coconut oil and mix to combine. Add the coconut flour mixture and stir to combine. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth surface.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
- Cut cooled cake into 20 pieces.
- To make the icing, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Place the shredded coconut on a plate. Dip the pieces of cake in icing and roll in coconut.
- Set aside on a wire rack. Stand for at least 1 hour or until set.
Lamingtons – commonly known as “lammo’s” over here, sometimes split in half and whipped cream put in the middle before dipping and rolling – something I miss so thanks for the recipe.
In New Zealand we cut about 3/4 through, add whipped cream. Also make then with pink icing and rolled in cocoanut.
It’s not often we see Americans take on our Aussie classics, but these look good. I have a few Paleo Lamington recipes to try, but they contain much more sugar than this recipe does, so that’s a plus in my book. Bookmarking for next Australia day 🙂
I’m from Western Australia and when making lamingtons, I freeze the cake, then cut it & ice it. It helps keep the cake together.
It’s also common to make the cake the day before icing the lamingtons as it holds the shape better. Really fresh cake can crumble. Can’t wait to try this version of one of my favourite treats. Thanks for sharing.
Do you know if these freeze well?
Could you tell me your heart, what I could use instead of honey. This recipe looks like so much fun and looks so good to eat that I’d love to try it. But I am staying completely away of any kind of sugar. I gave up sugar anything with corn or wheat last February and lost 39 pounds by June. I’m maintaining my 136 pounds and staying away from sugar has had a great deal to do with it. So can you help me out with another sweetener. Could I use xylitol? Thanks a bunch and happy Turkey to you.
LYNDELL
Looks so good! Question: Did the cake come out pretty moist?
Hi Jess,
Your lamington recipe sounds great! However ……………..traditionally lamingtons are made with dessicated coconut not shredded coconut.
As I’m writing from Australia maybe what we call “dessicated” is what Americans call “shredded”?
We also have “shredded coconut” which is thicker than “dessicated” and usually used for the top of cakes as decoration.
Cheers, and keep your yummy recipes coming!!
Hi, this is my husband’s favorite cake for Christmas for many years. I’m from Slovakia and we call them “hedgehogs” 🙂 We just started with Paleo and I’m glad that I found this recipe, because my husband was very upset that he can’t have them. In my regular recipe I’m adding shredded walnuts for flavor. I’m definitely trying this. Thanks
Thank you so much Harper, for this wonderful, easy and delicious receipe. I am making a second batch. The Lamingtons are in the oven right now. This is my second batch, as my husband couldn’t get enough of them. I tried to keep them for my afternoon tea, but, sigh, they didn’t last but a couple of days. I’m a Paleo girl who appreciates delicious healthy recipes. I too think Lamingtons are “little bites of love”.
Thank you again,
Gloria
Would cocoa powder work instead of cacao powder?