Re-Inventing the Lamington 2011 Day Three: Cookies and Cream Lamingtons

Until 5 seconds ago, I had another photo to put here, but I deleted it. How I hate myself.

(In which Mr. P parts company with a dear friend.)

Nothing is ever universally appreciated. Some things are not for everybody. Champagne. Opera. Incest. They all have their fans, but nobody likes them all. It is the same with dessicated coconut.

(Speaking of fans, allow me to make a little insertion here to mention the Delicious Delicious Delicious Facebook Page. I feel like I often take an age to 'moderate' comments on the blog; feel free to stop off and say hi on Facebook too. Unless you're the 'Generic Viagra' guy who keeps spamming me - we don't want those comments, thank you.)

Last year, all of my lamingtons were coconut-coated. You might say I didn't take the re-invention far enough (to which I might say 'Get Out.'). But actually, I think the coconut coating is part of what really makes a lamington a lamington. Even more than the cake or the chocolate.

However, coconut is not for everybody. *sigh* So I have attempted, this year, to use a couple of other coatings for my lams.

I present you with crushed Oreo cookies. I believe that as The Father of Lamington Re-Invention I can sanction their use here. Sure, I'm a little bit sad to deny coconut its rightful place and duty, but the prospect of a Cookies and Cream Lamington just seemed too good to turn down.

I actually got the idea for these from a really old recipe of mine from back when Delicious Delicious Delicious first started for Chocolate Peppermint Cookies and Cream Cupcakes. OK, this time there is no peppermint extract, but to a Brit like me, cookies and cream is still an exotic-sounding combination. Nothing to stop you adding a teaspoon of peppermint extract to the frosting either.

Enough talking though: let's cut to the chase (I'm really annoyed that I deleted that photograph!). These were delicious. You don't even need to bother with the cake, just make a bowl of the frosting and spread it on to some Oreos. Perfection. Though perhaps the sort of perfection that can lead to this.

Crikey.

Cookies and Cream Lamingtons

You will need:

For the cake -

Half a recipe of this yellow cake

For the frosting -

125g soft unsalted butter
200g full fat cream cheese
400g icing sugar

To coat -

1 package of Oreo cookies, crushed

1. Bake, cool, and slice the cake into cubes. For ease, make a full recipe, and freeze half of it well wrapped in cling film. You can use it to make lamingtons at a later date, or for a trifle or something. No harm ever came from having cake in the freezer.
   
2. Make the frosting: cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth and amalgamated, then beat in the icing sugar. You should have a creamy, smooth icing.
3. Using a small spatula (or a table knife), apply the icing to each side of the cake cubes. It is easier to frost them all before coating in crumbs, so have ready a sheet of parchment to sit them on while they wait. It is messy work, but just thing about how delicious it will be to lick the bowl when you finish.
4. Put the cookie crumbs into a shallow dish, and quickly roll the frosted cake cubes in them. Since these lamingtons stay quite moist, I think it's easier to place them into cupcake cases, to stop them sticking together. Allow to stand for a few hours before serving.

Re-Invent the Lamington Yourself!