Around the World in Foodventures (Australia: LAMINGTONS)

There aren't any new-to-me, exotic, or unique ingredients this time.  Just a cute dessert that I've heard mention of and/or seen worked with on several TV food competition shows.  Lamingtons -- little cakes dipped in chocolate and then coated with dried, grated coconut -- were legendarily invented by accident, by the servant of a government official who some say will be remembered for nothing but this.  You can read that story, as well as lots of other tales and information about the beloved treats, on the self-proclaimed Australian Lamington Official Website.

I made two varieties.  One is just the cake inside;
the other (a relatively traditional variety) is sandwiched with mixed-berry jam.

I used Paul Tully's True-Blue Delicious Aussie Lamington Recipe.  The only change I made was adding a little extra sugar to the chocolate icing because I wanted it thicker than the recipe turned it out.

Now I don't consider myself to be a baker.  I mean, I can bake things, and they taste just fine (if not very good) -- it's just that when there's any kind of precision work involved, my stuff usually looks like a child made it.  But this time, I was very successful and am pretty proud of myself.  The thing I was most pleased about with this endeavor is that when I baked the cake, it came out level all across the top (which never happens for me, and happened to be necessary for these little cakes to end up right - so, phew!).  As for the cuteness?....when Hubby looked in the fridge and saw these, he made the same "ooh" sound he makes when he sees baby bunnies. 😊  Hopefully our friends will enjoy eating them at potluck tonight. 💜

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as I'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain