Updated July 2026

July 21st is National Lamington Day. What’s a lamington? It’s a sponge cake dipped in chocolate and topped with desiccated coconut that Australians enjoy at breakfast, afternoon tea, or dessert. A kitchen accident, it is one of Australia’s most famous desserts (the other is the Pavlova).

The classic lamington can be single squares or layers sandwiched with filling—whipped cream or jam (photo #2). We admit to using both when we made the recipe below!

Beyond squares, cooks have made lamingtons in the shape of Swiss rolls (photo #4), whoopie pies (photo #6), loaves, and everything in-between.

The squares are enjoyed as a snack or at any meal of the day, starting with breakfast.

Considered the national dessert of Australia*, you’re not likely to find lamingtons on the shelf in the U.S. So today’s the day to bake a recipe and invite your friends for tea.

Below:

> The history of the lamington.

> A delicious lamington recipe.

> What is desiccated coconut?

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of cake.

> The history of sponge cake.

> The different types of sponge cake.

> The different types of cake: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 55 cake holidays.

 

[8] Thanks, Australia, for these delightful cakes (photo © The Nibble).
 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE LAMINGTON

The Australian cake was invented due to an accident that happened in Queensland, Australia—the northeastern state of Australia adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef.

A recipe appeared in the Queensland Country Life newspaper as early as 1900.

According to Queensland Government House, the lamington was created by the chef of the state’s governor, Lord Lamington, Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie. But it may not be that simple.

The story is that the governor ordered his favorite yellow sponge cake to be served to guests at Government House in Brisbane. A maid-servant accidentally dropped the cake into melted chocolate.

When his Lordship was told of the accident, not wanting to waste the cake, he recommended that the cook roll the squares in coconut shavings to make a less messy finger food to eat with afternoon tea. The error was proclaimed magnificent by all [source].

How do you drop an entire plate of sponge cake squares into melted chocolate? It’s one of those far-fetched stories, but then, that’s how chocolate ganache was invented.

In addition to National Lamington Day, there is the Australian Lamington Appreciation Society (ALAS, perhaps referring to the need to eat more than one piece at a time), which is committed to the preservation of the lamington and the celebration of Lamington Day.

However, there is controversy.

Research in neighboring New Zealand notes the earlier presence of the Wellington, a double-layer sponge dessert, covered in shavings of coconut intended to imitate the snow-capped mountains of New Zealand.

“What we have here is conclusive evidence that the lamington cake was in fact a product of New Zealand” [source].

Them’s fightin’ words! And they turn out to be a hoax†.

And there’s even more shade!

Lord Lamington was not the most accomplished of governors. Extensive research by the Governors of the Australian Colonies and States produced evidence that Lord Lamington had only “one, single, solitary, positive achievement of any Governor since the First Fleet arrived in 1788,” and that was the creation of the world-famous lamington cake [source].

Harumph! Having Australia’s favorite cake attributed to you is no mean feat.

And eating them is the best way to reclaim his good name.

Lamingtons Today

Australians love their lamos (if you want to sound local, call it a lamo). The original chocolate lamington has been fashioned into numerous flavors, as well as adapted to cake pops, cheesecakes, ice cream pops, layer cakes, panna cotta, roulades, and whoopie pies, for starters. Here’s an assortment of 20 recipes from Australia.
 
 
PAUL TULLY’S TRUE-BLUE DELICIOUS AUSSIE LAMINGTON RECIPE

This recipe is from Paul Tully, a city councilor in Queensland, “a fanatic devotée of the lamington,” and creator of the Australian Lamington Appreciation Society.

You can make superfine sugar by processing granulated sugar at high speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Stop before the sugar turns into powder. Let the sugar dust settle for 30 seconds, then remove the lid.
 
Ingredients For The Sponge Cake

 
Ingredients For The Chocolate Icing

 
Plus

 
Preparation

1. BEAT the eggs well, gradually adding the sugar until dissolved. Add the milk and vanilla extract and then stir in the flour. Whip the butter into the mixture.

2. POUR the batter into a cake pan or lamington baking dish and bake in a moderate oven of 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes and then stand for 24 hours preferably in the refrigerator, before applying the icing.

3. MAKE the icing. Stir the cocoa and powdered sugar vigorously in a large bowl. Add the milk, butter, and boiling water, warming the chocolate mixture over very low heat until it has a smooth creamy texture.

4. CUT the sponge cake into equal two-inch squares. Using a fork or thin skewer, dip each piece into the chocolate mixture, ensuring that the mixture is liberally and evenly applied.

5. DIP each piece into the desiccated coconut, allowing the lamingtons to cool on a wire tray for several hours.

By the way, the dessert is so popular that Australians can buy a special lamington pan, a shallow cake pan that’s 30.5 x 20.5 x 2.8 cm. In inches, that’s 12 x 8 x 1 inch.

[1] A classic lamington can be a single layer or a filled “sandwich,” (photo © The Nibble).

[2] “Lamos,” for short, are made in a variety of flavors. The pale versions in the photo are dipped in white chocolate (photo © Pham Thanh Dat | Pexels).

[3] White chocolate raspberry lamingtons. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Good Oil).

[4] Lamingtons are made in as many shapes as there are bakers who want to make them. Here’s the recipe for this lamington Swiss roll (photo © The Loopy Whisk).

[5] How about a Lamington layer cake or birthday cake? Here’s the recipe (photo © Women’s Weekly Food).

[6] Lamington whoopie pies (photo © The Nibble).

[7] Desiccated coconut (photo © The Nibble).

[8] Here’s a recipe showing step-by-step from an Aussie specialist (photo © The Scranline).

Desiccated coconut (photo #7)is fresh coconut flesh that has been shredded or flaked and dried to remove as much moisture as possible. It’s typically unsweetened.

The term “desiccated” literally means “thoroughly dried out.” Because it’s dry, it absorbs liquids. In lamington making, it absorbs a bit of the chocolate icing as it sets, creating a stable “crust” that prevents the cake from being messy to handle.

It’s a staple ingredient in baking and confectionery, particularly in Australia and the U.K., and is the defining exterior coating of a lamington. It’s also commonly used in granola, energy balls, and traditional sweets like coconut ice.

 
NOTE: If a recipe calls for desiccated coconut and you only have the moist, sweetened shredded type, the results will differ significantly because the extra moisture and sugar can affect the consistency and sweetness of the final product.

> Check out the different types of coconut and their uses.

________________
 
*While Australia does not have an official “national dessert” codified by law in the same way it has a national anthem or flag, the lamington holds that title by popular acclaim and government recognition. In 2006, the National Trust of Queensland even named the lamington one of Australia’s favorite icons. It is also referred to as the “national cake.”

In 2014, The Guardian published an April Fools’ Day article claiming that an earlier New Zealand cake called the “Wellington” was the lamington’s ancestor. The story said it was a double-sponge cake covered in coconut—supposedly resembling New Zealand’s snow-capped mountains—and that Lord Lamington encountered it in Wellington before becoming Governor of Queensland. However, although The Guardian later identified that article as an April Fools’ joke, and the “Wellington cake” origin story has since been repeated as though it were real. There is no reliable historical evidence that a Wellington cake existed. So if you want to eat a Wellington, it will have to be Beef Wellington.
 
 

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