INGREDIENTS
FOR THE CAKE
- 1¼ cups sifted all purpose flour
- 1½ cups sifted cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups sugar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup vegetable shortening at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons good quality vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ cups buttermilk, (or sour regular milk by adding a Tbsp of lemon juice or plain vinegar
- FOR THE LEMON SAUCE
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- pinch salt
- 3 Tbsp corn starch
- 3 egg yolks
- juice of 2 large lemons
- zest of one large lemon very finely minced
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 4 Tbsp butter not margarine
TO FINISH THE LAMINGTONS
- Approximately 3-4 cups dried shredded coconut, (unsweetened)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan & line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together both flours, baking soda. baking powder, salt and sugar, Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the vegetable oil, shortening and vanilla.
4. Beat well at high speed with whisk attachment for a few mins until well blended.
5. Beat the eggs in one at a time.
6. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
I always add dry ingredients in three divisions & liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the prepared 9×13 inch pan.
7. Bake at 325° F for 30-35 mins or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan.
8. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap & place in the freezer until the cake is completely frozen.
9. When frozen, lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment paper as an aid & cut it into 24 squares.
10. Return to the freezer until ready to dip in the lemon syrup & coconut.
TO PREPARE THE LEMON SAUCE
1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, salt & cornstarch.
2. While still off the heat, whisk in the egg yolks.
3. Add the lemon juice, zest & water & place over medium low heat.
4. Bring this mixture to a boil stirring constantly. I find that a silicone spatula best for this because you can continuously scrape the entire bottom of the pan, making sure that the sauce thickens evenly and doesn’t stick or burn.
5. Once it is boiling continue to boil for 1 minute, then take it off the heat & stir in the butter, a tablespoon at a time until smooth.
6. Pour into 8×8 baking dish to cool to almost room temp before using to dip the cake cubes. Stir the sauce occasionally as it cools.
TO PREPARE THE FINISHED LAMINGTONS
1. Working quickly, dip the frozen cake cubes into the sauce.
2. You don’t want to soak too much sauce into the cake.
3. Quickly roll the soaked cake into the coconut & place on a parchment lined baking sheet to dry.
4. Store in airtight plastic containers. If you are freezing the dessert squares put them back into the freezer right away.
NOTES 📝
☆ Total time to make , freeze and finish these dessert squares is probably about 6 hours. You may want to plan to freeze the cake overnight & finish the squares the next day.