Friday 15 September 2017

Citrus Lamingtons.



Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

For all the coconut fans in your life!
These citrus Lamingtons are a fun take on the classic.
I'm actually not the biggest coconut fan but have been informed by those in the know, that these Lamingtons spiked with orange, lemon and lime are pretty good. They start with a citrus cake.
It's a simple batter which is packed full of citrus zests. I used orange, lemon and lime but you could even try grapefruit or tangerine. The batter is thrown in to bake and while it does, we'll make the citrus curd. Using the juices from those same fruits, a curd is whipped up with eggs, butter, sugar and cornflour.
Once both the cake and curd are completely cold, we can assemble the Lamingtons. Of course, you could go the traditional cube route, but I tried this slice version. It's something a little different and I'm sure will be much appreciated by the coconut addicts in your life.

A Simple List of Ingredients:

For the Citrus Cake:
1. Butter
2. Caster Sugar
3. Eggs
4. Orange
5. Lemon
6. Lime
7. Self-Raising Flour
8. Milk

For the Citrus Curd:
1. Orange
2. Lemon
3. Lime
4. Caster Sugar
5. Eggs
6. An Egg Yolk
7. Cornflour
8. Butter

To Assemble:
1. Desiccated Coconut

Bismillah, let's begin!


We start by baking the citrus cake which needs to be completely cold before we can use it to make Lamingtons. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour a 20cm (8 inch) round cake tin. I got mine here!


To start the batter, measure out 175g softened Butter and 175g Caster Sugar in a mixing bowl.

By hand or with an electric mixer, beat the two for about 10 minutes until ...

... pale and fluffy.

Then, take 3 medium Eggs. It's best if they are room temperature.

Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl and gradually beat them into the butter mixture.

If things curdle, it's fine. Once the flour goes in, it'll be smooth.

Next, the citrus! Take 1 Orange, 1 Lemon and 1 Lime. We'll be using them in both the cake and the curd.

For the cake, we'll need just the zest of the orange, lemon and lime. So grab your favourite zester (this one is mine!) and get zesting.

Until you have a bowl full of the most amazing smells!

Also, at this point, add in 250g Self-Raising Flour, sifted.

Mix well until you can no longer see the flour.

Finally, add in 3 tablespoons Whole Milk.

Mix to incorporate the milk.

And, our batter is ready to bake!

Scrape it out into the prepared cake tin. Bake at 180C for 45-50 minutes until ...

... the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean with no wet batter on it. Let the cake cool in its tin for 10 minutes.

Then, run a bread knife around the edges and carefully flip it out onto a wire rack.

Let the cake cool completely!

Meanwhile, let's make the citrus curd. 

Into a saucepan, place:
Juice of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1 Orange
Juice of 1 Lime
150g Caster Sugar
2 medium Eggs
1 medium Egg Yolk
1 teaspoon Cornflour
75g Butter, melted

Place the pan over a medium heat and whisk everything to combine.

Whisk constantly until the curd is bubbling and has thickened. 

Remove the curd from the heat and pass it through a sieve. 

Sieving is a good idea because it gets rid of lumps and any overcooked bits of eggs.

Leaving behind a super-smooth citrus curd.

Cover the curd with clingfilm, making sure that the clingfilm touches the actual curd to stop a skin from forming.

Let the curd cool completely and once the cake is cool, wrap it in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

When you're ready to assemble the Lamingtons, grab your cool cake, curd and 100g Desiccated Coconut. Put the coconut in a flat plate or tray.

Slice the cake into 8 or 16 slices.

Brush each cake slice with the curd, including the base. Dip and roll the cake slice in the coconut.

Continue with all the rest of the slices. It may seem a bit fiddly at first but you'll get there in the end. I wore disposable gloves when making mine as I found that actually dunking the cake sides in the curd was faster than brushing it.

Pop the Lamingtons on a cake stand and serve with tea!

Citrus Lamingtons.

Prep Time: About 40 minutes + extra time to chill.
Bake Time: About 45-50 minutes.
Serves: Makes 8 large or 16 small slices.

Ingredients

For the Citrus Cake
175g Butter, softened
175g Caster Sugar
3 medium Eggs
Zest of 1 Orange
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Lime
250g Self-Raising Flour, sifted
3 tablespoons Whole Milk

For the Citrus Curd
Juice of 1 Orange
Juice of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1 Lime
150g Caster Sugar
2 medium Eggs
1 medium Egg Yolk
1 teaspoon Cornflour
75g Butter, melted

To Assemble
100g Desiccated Coconut (plus more, if needed)

Bake the citrus cake:
Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour a 20cm (8 inch) round cake tin.

Beat together the butter and sugar for 10 minutes until pale. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl and gradually beat them into the butter. Add in the citrus zests and flour. Stir in before adding in the milk. Mix until just combined. Scrape the batter into the cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool the cake:
Let the cake cool in its tin for 10 minutes then take it out and place on a wire rack. Cool completely before wrapping in clinfilm and chilling for at least 1 hour in the fridge. Chilling the cake makes slicing much easier.

Make the citrus curd:
Place all the ingredients into a saucepan over a medium heat. Whisk constantly until the curd is bubbling and has thickened. Remove from the heat and pass through a sieve to get rid of any lumps. Cover with clingfilm, making sure that the clingfilm touches the actual curd. Leave to cool completely.

Assemble the citrus lamingtons:
Unwrap the cake. Grab your curd - if it's too cold and you're finding it hard to stir, heat in the microwave for 20 seconds. Put the desiccated coconut in a flat plate or tray - I started with 100g and added more, as needed.

Slice the cake into 8 or 16 slices. Brush each cake slice with the citrus curd including the base. Roll the cake slice in the coconut until evenly covered all over. Continue with the rest of the cake slices.

Serve:
Serve the citrus lamingtons with your favourite hot drink!

Recipe Notes

  • You may slice the cake into squares too, if you want the classic Lamingtons shape.
  • Leftover curd is great on your morning toast.

{adapted from nadiya's british food adventure}

Keep me in your duas please, and enjoy your citrus lamingtons!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!


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