Re-Inventing the Lamington 2014 Day Three: Crème de Menthe Lamingtons

Look, I am not a food stylist; I don't know why I decided to put these lams in a rocks glass and yes, I know the lighting is terrible. But frankly, when you're looking at making and baking ten different kinds of lamington over two days in grey and blustery February, you have to just go with whatever you can get. It works for me. That is all I can really ask for.

Now: I know that more often than not, my lamingtons involve a liqueur from my drinks cabinet, and that it must seem like I am always drinking. I honestly am not. It's just that I love a good cocktail, and before I discovered that it was never going to get any better than Tanqueray martini (twist, always a twist), I allowed my cupboards to get somewhat full. The lamingtons help me work through my stockpile.

Crème de menthe is a bit of a bugger as you can't really do much with it, and I don't have an ice crank, so frappé is never really an option. So I feel good about using it here and freeing up space. For gin and vermouth.

I will be totally honest though: these lams didn't really do it for me. I love the fact that they were glazed, as opposed to chocolate coated, because that makes for a better texture, but mint and coconut is not a combo that I would lay my life on the line for.

Perce loved them.

Oh, and I am dedicating these lamingtons to the gorgeous and helpful staff at the Washington branch of American Apparel in South Beach, Miami. The way they pronounce 'menthe' as 'menth' and not 'mont' gets me every time. Cute.

Remember that you still have time to Re-Invent the Lamington yourself, and win a beautiful prize. Get to it.

Crème de Menthe Lamingtons 

You will need:

1 x batch Coconut and Vanilla Bean Chiffon Cake

300g icing sugar, sifted
50ml crème de menthe

100g dessicated coconut

1. To make slicing the cake into lamingtons easier, I wrap it in cling film and freeze overnight. Cut the frozen cake into 24 cubes, or as many as you like/can.
2. Make the glaze: mix the crème de menthe and icing sugar together until smooth. If you need to thin it down a little more, use a few drops of hot water from the kettle. Set the coconut in a dish.
3. Dip each cube of cake into first the glaze and then the coconut. Set aside on a wire rack to dry out and do your best to ignore the funky colour the coconut turns. (They look like alien cakes.)