SORT-OF (NOT REALLY) LAMINGTONS

Lamingtons are an Antipodean treat - I've always thought they were from Australia but the internet's full of claims by New Zealanders too - that combine three of the most delicious things: fluffy sponge, rich chocolate icing and coconut. I've called these 'sort-of' lamingtons because they are really not lamingtons at all, but they were inspired by a particularly tasty one I had at the village fair last year.

I loosely followed this recipe for the sponge, but halved all the quantities.

For 24 mini sort-of lamingtons and 4 classic lamingtons
2 eggs
100g plain flour
100g caster sugar
55g butter, melted then cooled
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

I made a classic buttercream icing with icing sugar and butter, then added melted dark chocolate and a splash of milk to get a glossy, super-chocolatey finish.

I won't lie, these were a bit fiddly! I used confectioners' cases to get such tiny-sized cakes - which only need about a teaspoon of cake mixture, so a little goes a long way. They only need 10 minutes in the oven so watch them like a hawk when the tops have just started to colour, as they do dry out quite quickly.

I let the cakes cool completely and then to ice them I just dipped them top-down into the icing and sort of swirled them to ensure they were coated. For the cherries, I painstakingly removed the pit by making a small incision in the base, then dipped in the chocolate and then the desiccated coconut. Frozen cherries come pitted, so if you don't mind not having the cute stems sticking out, they would be a good alternative.

p.s. I made classic lamingtons too and they were delicious ;)