I decided to use almonds for the 'sponge', and for that beautiful white colour inside I peeled all the almonds. You can buy blanched ones if you want to skip that process. The shredded coconut and the milk gives it a moist sponge-like consistency. To make the 'cream' part I made a coconut panna cotta which layered over the top of the sponge. I used agar gar to set it and it sat beautifully over the top adding a creamy texture. The berry compote was just frozen berries mixed together. I didn't bother setting it into a jam consistency since it would be held together with the chocolate covering.
I would suggest make the berry compote first and leave it in the freezer just to harden a little. The lamington itself actually super easy to make even though it's a 4 part recipe. The hardest part was at the end coating it, got a bit messy and everything was covered in ganache! Took a few to figure out a system to minimize chocolate topping going all over everything.
The result however is these amazing moist squares of yumminess without the guilt and the after effects of sponge and cream and dairy. The look and taste great and keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks. A wonderful raw version of this good old Aussie classic!
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Raw Lamingtons
Lamington Sponge 3 cups blanched almonds (soaked overnight) 2 cups shredded coconut 1/2 cup honey (maple) 3/4 cup coconut milk 1/4 cup coconut oil 1 TBS vanilla extract Panna cotta 1 cup coconut milk 2 TBS coconut nectar 1/2 tsp vanilla pinch of salt 2 tsp agar agar 8 tsp hot boiling water Berry Compote 1 cup frozen mixed berries 1 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp coconut nectar pinch of salt Chocolate Ganache 2 cups cacao powder 1 cup syrup 1 cup coconut oil 1/4 tsp sea salt |
1. Blend all ingredients for sponge together until smooth consistency
2. Take half out and spread over a small square/rectangle cake tin
3. With the panna cotta, do it in two stages. You have to work quite fast with agar agar as it solidifies quickly. Add all the ingredients except for the agar agar and water into the blender.
4. In a small bowl, add hot boiling water and agar agar together and whisk until dissolved, add into blender and blend all ingredients together
5. Pour over the base sponge and leave to set, should take about 15 mins
6. Blend all ingredients for the berry compote and spread evenly over the top of the panna cotta (to help set it fast put the compote in the freezer for a little first while until it's not so runny then spread over)
7. Put the whole thing in the freezer and leave for an hour
8. Add the top layer of the sponge, flatten down. Work carefully as you can push the berry compote too hard, you want a nice even layer over the top
9. Leave to freeze for an hour
10. Blend all the ganache ingredients together and put inside a large bowl
11. Prepare a tray or plate of shredded coconut
12. Take the lamington sponge out the freezer, and cut into square pieces, coat the pieces in the ganache (the covering will harden fairly quickly since the coconut oil will react to the cold)
13. Roll in the shredded coconut
14. After all the squares have been covered, refrigerate for 30 mins and enjoy!
* Makes roughly about 20 squares