Recipe: Hough Bakery Coconut Bars (Lamingtons)

Hough Bakery Coconut Bars (Lamingtons)
Source: KM
Makes 12 servings

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
4 whole eggs, beaten
2 cups self-rising flour
FOR THE ICING:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups finely shredded coconut (see cook's notes)

Cook's notes: The original Australian recipe calls for desiccated coconut, a dried and shredded form usually sold unsweetened; may be found in health food stores or Asian specialty food markets. Lamingtons are cubes of sponge cake covered with a chocolate glaze and shredded coconut. Clevelanders may recognize these as the "coconut bars" sold for many years at the in-store bakeries of most large grocery chains, at Hough Bakery and other shops. The cake itself was named after Baron Lamington, the governor of Queensland between 1895 and 1901.

Preliminaries: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan and dust it lightly with flour.

Make the batter:
Cream the butter and sugar together. Gradually add eggs and mix well. Add 1/3 cup of flour at a time, stirring gently and thoroughly after each addition. Place batter in prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, decreasing temperature to 325 degrees after 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Place in freezer after cool for about one hour. This makes cutting cake into cubes easier and reduces crumbs.

Make the icing:
While cakes briefly freeze, sift the confectioner's sugar into a bowl. In another bowl, combine boiling water and vanilla with cocoa, mix well and stir into confectioner's sugar. Beat well until smooth.

Assembly:
Cut cooled cake into 24 squares and ice on all sides. This is best done using a pair of tongs. Dip the cake into the icing mixture, then roll iced cake in the coconut and coat well. Allow to dry on a wire rack.

Presentation:
Cover loosely and refrigerate. Serve within 24 hours; remove from refrigerator about an hour before serving for best flavor.