For fall this year, I developed a Lamington recipe for my bakery – Pumpkin Lamington. It is more popular than I had thought, because they are no common here. Lamington is traditionally an Australian treat. A cake in a small cube shape, with a thin filling such as raspberry jam, and coated with a chocolate syrup and rolled in shredded coconut. Though I have never seen it here in Vancouver, or anywhere I recall in North America, really; they are quite popular in Hong Kong. I remember I first fell in love with Lamingtons at Starbucks (don’t judge, I was probably still in high school). I had the traditional chocolate flavour, then I think also tried a pineapple one. The size is perfect with a cup of coffee or hot drink in the late afternoon.
Pumpkin Lamington
Ingredients
Pumpkin Sponge
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1-1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 cup pumkpin puree canned
- 1/2 cup neutral tasting vegetable oil canola or sunflower
- 4 egg yolks room temperature
- 4 egg whites room temperature
Filling
- 1 cup cream cheese room temperature
- 2 tbsp whipping cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
Coating
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree canned
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1-1/2 cup chopped white couverture chocolate preferably Valrhona’s Ivoire
- 1-1/2 cup pumpkin seeds ground
- 3/4 cup unsweetned shredded coconut
Instructions
Pumpkin Sponge
- For the cake, preheat oven to 325 F, and set a rack in the center. Line a 9” x 13” cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom and sides
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and spices into a medium bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, and egg yolks. Fold in the sifted flour mixture with a spatula until the flour is just hydrated. Do not overmix once you add the flour otherwise the cake might become tough.
- In a clean bowl of a stand mixer place egg whites and whip on high speed with a whisk attachment. You can also use a handheld electric mixer for this. After 1-2 minutes, reduce speed to medium high until soft peaks form. This may take 4-5 minutes. When you lift the whisk from the egg whites, there should be a soft peak at the tip of the whisk.
- Fold in one-third of the whipped egg whites into the wet flour mixture and mix with a spatula until well combined. Lightly fold in the rest of the meringue. Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway. It is done when a cake tester is inserted in the center and comes out clean. Let the cake cool before filling it. You can bake the cake up to 2 days before assembling. Store the baked cake in an airtight container in the fridge.
Filling
- For the filling, mix all ingredients by hand with a spatula in a medium bowl until the ingredients are incorporated.
Coating
- For the coating, combine pumpkin puree, cream, spices, and salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium while stirring to prevent the bottom from burning until it comes to a simmer. Place the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Pour the hot pumpkin mixture over the chocolate. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes, stir the mixture with a spatula until the ganache is coherent. In a separate bowl, combine the ground pumpkin seeds and coconut.
Assembly
- To assemble, slice the cake in half like you would for a sandwich. Spread the cream cheese filling evenly with an offset spatula and place on the top half on top to make a sandwich. Place the cake in the freezer to firm up, for abut 20 minutes. When ready to coat, trim off the edges if necessary, and cut the cake into 1.5” squares. Brush warm ganache onto the individual cakes, and coat in the pumpkin seeds and coconut mixture. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Can be frozen for up to a week.
This cake is like a lighter version of pumpkin loaf. I like the cream cheese with the spices and the smooth ganache on the outside. It is a great fall treat and might be a great dessert idea for American Thanksgiving, (Canadian thanksgiving was last month), for those who don’t like pumpkin pie or just want to try something different. This recipe also appeared in The Province along with other treats!
Happy thanksgiving, my American friends!
