Out of Africa

One of our regular lamington tasters has embarked on an African adventure. Just when we were beginning to doubt her dedication to the humble lamington, she surprised us with this wonderful account of finding a lamington in Uganda. 

Lamingtons turn up in the most surprising places!

On Sunday morning I visited the Backpackers on Mengo Hill in Kampala to meet a friend and start our road journey to Lubanda (about 145 kilometres from Uganda’s capital Kampala, and home of the wonderful HUG project – check out this fantastic community development project at http://www.hug.org.au/). Not only did I find Sue, a talented sonographer from Brisbane, who was coming to volunteer at the health clinic, I also found a delicious looking plate of lamingtons. It turns out the backpackers is run by an Australian ex-pat, who clearly understands the culinary importance of the lamington, and provides it as an offering to expand the gastronomic experience of international travellers in Uganda.

I took the opportunity to purchase one lamington, and travelled with it to Lubanda on by a mix of tarmac and dirt roads, wrapped in a single piece of aluminium foil.

Here are the thoughts from four keen taste testers.

Firstly, the lamington travelled incredibly well. It arrived in one solid piece, which is a small miracle in itself given some of the road conditions. The sponge (if you can call it that) was relatively firm, an attribute that was obviously a benefit for travel, but not necessarily demonstrating the kind of light fluffy consistency we have come to expect from a good lamington.

Indeed, Sue exclaimed the sponge was ‘denser than expected’, and concluded it was ‘more like a tea cake’. We all agreed it took a non-traditional form, with Helen adding ‘it took some chewing to get through’, and thought that perhaps the ’density was a problem’. David Ssemwongerere, a first time lamington eater, felt the sponge ‘was really heavy, and when you eat it you feel a little bit heavy’. Not exactly strong praise!

While we were not able to sing enthusiastically about the sponge/tea cake imitating sponge, the chocolate coating was a different story. Overall, it was delicious. Helen stated it was clearly of good quality, not chocolate confectionery that you might expect in Uganda. Meanwhile Sue described the chocolate as leaving a ‘lingering pretty good taste’.  I agreed, the chocolate coating was by far the strongest attribute of this lamington, and in many ways made up for the questionable ‘sponge’. In addition to the delight of the chocolate, David, our first time lamington eater, also added ‘this stuff on the surface (the coconut), it helps it to have another taste, and when you eat it, it is so sweet’.

The lamington received some strong praise from Helen, a long time visitor to Uganda, who concluded the taste test by declaring that eating a lamington (of any quality) in Uganda was indeed a ‘luxurious experience’.

I agree, it was a divine gastronomic moment. And eaten alongside an African spiced tea and sour oranges made for a winning combination.

Overall, given the transport and other environmental conditions, our team of taste testers gave it a collective score of 8.3 out of ten.

The Lamington Leaderboard

This is a list of the lamingtons we have tasted and tested, ranked according to score. This is a living list. We will be adding new lamingtons regularly, and going back to visit old ones too.

9.2 Davies Bakery Tarragindi | 4/6 Gapap Street, Tarragindi 

8.6 The Flour Monkey Bakery Carina | 889 Old Cleveland Rd, Carina

8.2 Shingle Inn Indooroopilly | Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Moggill Road

8.0 Kelvin Grove Village Markets | Blamey St, Kelvin Grove

7.9 Gerbino’s Pasticceria | Shop 10A, 57 Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove

7.2 Golden King Bakery | 239 Waterworks Rd, Ashgrove

6.7 Yeronga Bakery & Cafe | 429 Fairfield Road, Yeronga

5.8 Brumby’s St Lucia | 228 Hawken Drive, St Lucia

5.6 Holland Place Bakery | 926-928, Logan Rd, Holland Park

5.3 Kelvin Lee Hot Bread | 48 Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove

A rainy day lamington

Yesterday, I drove out to Carina in the rain with the sole purpose of buying a lamington from The Flour Monkey Bakery. A little bakery with loads of character, The Flour Monkey was bustling when I stepped inside from the drizzle. The service was friendly and efficient despite the bustle and I was back out in the rain with my lamington in no time at all. The Flour Monkey is everything a local bakery should be, my only complaint is that it is not in my neighbourhood.

I was a solo lamington eater this weekend, which was a little lonely. On the way home from the Flour Monkey I had given my lamington a little sqeeze and finding that it was soft and springy, felt a little sad that there would be no other lamington lovers to share in the joy of a well-made lamington.

Stuck in traffic on the way home, I was very, very tempted to eat this lamington in the car. I mustered all my self-control, however, so that I could take a few pictures before it was reduced to a sprinkling of leftover coconut. Cutting the Flour Monkey lamington in half gave me even greater hope that this would be a delicious lamington. The sponge was the perfect colour and the icing was still moist. It was probably fortunate that I was not eating with company because I devoured this lamington in under a minute. And it was fantastic. With the rain thundering against the roof, I felt really happy and contented with my lamington (however briefly) and a cup of ginger tea.

The Flour Monkey’s lamington had just one shortcoming and that was that the thickness of the icing was not uniform. One side had the optimum amount of icing and was just divine, but the other side of the lamington was a little scant on icing. If both halves had been coated as beautifully as the left half, this lamington would have been nigh on perfect. That said, this was one of the best lamingtons I have eaten in the last few months, and I’ll certainly be picking up some more lamingtons from The Flour Monkey when our judging panel is convened again. No monkey business here, these guys definitely know how to make a lamington.

The Verdict: 8.6

The Flour Monkey Bakery Carina | 889 Old Cleveland Rd, Carina

http://www.theflourmonkey.com.au

Lamingtons $2.20 each

A lamington not worth the wait

This Sunday I happened upon a modest-looking bakery in Holland Park. It seemed to be attracting a steady stream of locals, which I thought a good sign. There were two people in front of me at the counter, so I lined up for my lamington. After five long minutes, I felt like it was taking just a little too long. Then I was faced with the inevitable dilemma, I had already waited this long, invested my precious time, I simply had to wait it out. I did my best, smiling at the customer in front of me who kept turning to look at me apologetically. After an interminable wait it was finally my turn. I stepped forward to be greeted with a very surly “yes?” Had I stepped into someone’s private dining room, rather than into a bakery? Even the affable customer before me had failed to raise a smile from this woman with his friendly banter. In her defense perhaps she was having a bad day, or maybe she had just eaten a lemon, or something else incredibly sour. In any case, she did deign to trade me a lamington for my $2.50.

I loved the look of this lamington, the shape reminded me of a cliff. Geometric qualities aside, there was not much else to love about this lamington. If our Brumby’s lamingtons tasted like they had been left out in the rain, this lamington tasted like it had been left out in the desert…for a week. It was dry, oh so dry! It had the same consistency and dryness of a kitchen sponge before it hits water. This was a shame because the overall taste was quite nice if eaten with a sip of tea to rehydrate the sponge.

The Holland Place Bakery lamington also featured an abundance of coconut. So much that I used the excess to create shapes on the table, kind of like a coconut Etch a Sketch.

There’s not much more to say about this lamington. One side was slightly less dried out than the other, so I ate that half and threw the other half of the sponge to the birds. They didn’t eat it though. I don’t blame them.

Maybe I should have gone with Holland Park Hot Bread on the opposite side of the road.

The Verdict: 5.6

Holland Place Bakery | 926-928, Logan Rd, Holland Park

$2.50 per lamington

A Brumby’s Bust

We were at full strength again this week for our lamington judging, with all three lamington tasters in attendance – Traditionalist, Diplomat, and Novice taster. Brought before us this week was (half) a tray of Brumby’s lamingtons. “Sorry, they’re from Brumby’s” apologised our Diplomatic taster. But a Brumby’s lamington is still a lamington, and therefore deserved to be eaten and judged by us. If anything, this gave Brumby’s the underdog advantage. We expected so little from these franchise lamingtons, that they could have wowed us more easily than any other.

Despite its underdog advantage, however, the Brumby’s lamington crumbled under the pressure. Like a cheap toyota from a used car dealership, it drove alright for the first couple of hundred metres before things rapidly began to fall apart. After the first bite, our Brumby’s lamingtons began to disintegrate. The icing separated from the sponge and in order to experience all three ingredients together, one had to pick up a little sponge, a little icing, and a little coconut from the plate, force it together and devour it as quickly as possible.

The Icing
I will forever remember these lamingtons as the lamingtons that were left out in the rain – because that is the only way to describe the consistency of the icing. It had crossed the line from deliciously moist to wet. Even the box bore traces of damp where it had absorbed some of the lamintons’ excess moisture. For all the icing’s dampness, though, the sponge just did not want to absorb it. In fact, the sponge seemed to be openly rejecting the icing. Once the lamington was sliced, the icing began to peel off in sheets, leaving a naked square of sponge in its wake. “It’s a real problem,” exclaimed our diplomat, ‘it’s just not mobile.’ Indeed, the only way to eat this lamington was by leaning very close to the plate and holding the lamington tightly together until it reached one’s mouth.

The Sponge This was actually a very nice sponge in parts; light, creamy, sweet. Unfortunately, however, it had been a little singed on the top and the bottom and the taste of ever-so-slightly-burnt cake permeated the lamington. If only the baker had sliced a fine layer off the top and bottom of the sponge before cutting it into lamington squares, we would never have known. All three of our lamingtons suffered this same fate.

“It’s disappointing,” lamented our diplomat who had brought these disastrous lamingtons to the table.

I think we went a bit rogue when it came to scoring our Brumby’s lamington, though even our generosity has not saved them. I have to admit, there was some fun to be had in eating such a messy lamington, so I gave it an extra half point for entertainment value. Meanwhile, our diplomat added an extra half point for the service at Brumby’s, which was apparently exceptional. If only we could say the same of their lamingtons. It seems our novice was the only one sticking to the rules, although he seemed largely preoccupied by the price, “I feel like it should be cheaper, it’s from a franchise.”

The Diplomat: 5.9
The Traditionalist: 5.8
The Novice: 5.7

The Verdict: 5.8

This lamington was more of a donkey than a brumby I’m afraid.

Brumby’s | 228 Hawken Drive, St Lucia

$2.90 per lamington

An elite lamington

This week I ate what was surely one of Brisbane’s most expensive lamingtons. One should always be cautious when the price is not displayed alongside an item for sale. It usually implies that the wares are outrageously expensive. In this case, though, it was a lamington I was after, and I thought ‘how expensive can a lamington be?’ Well at Indooroopilly’s Shingle Inn, $4.40. “It’s highway robbery, that’s what it is” exclaimed my thrifty partner as we left the store with my extravagant lamington.

Shingle Inn is an institution in Brisbane, first opening its doors in Edward Street in 1936. Sitting down with my lamington, the paper bag reminded me that they have been trading in baked goods for over seven decades now. Surely enough time to have perfected the great Australian lamington.

The Shingle Inn lamington was definitely the smallest we have judged so far. What it lacked in size though, it made up for in fluffiness. The outstanding feature of this lamington was the fluffy sponge, it was just so fluffy! Like little clouds of sponge dancing on my tongue. The downside of this lamington was that it was such a wee little thing. Because the sponge was so light and delicate, it was not a terribly satiating treat. Immediately after eating it, I felt like I had not eaten anything and wished I had bought two.

The overall experience of this lamington was just a tad fleeting. I think it was undersized, especially given the oversize price-tag. With such a light, airy sponge, it needed to be double the volume to make it truly outstanding. There are few things more disappointing than a lamington that does not satisfy one’s lamington craving.*

The Verdict: 8.2

Shingle Inn | Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Moggill Road
http://www.shingleinn.com

* There are many things more disappointing than this, but I feel, as the authour of a blog with such limited scope, I cannot overemphasise the significance of lamingtons.

A cheap and cheerful lamington

When the friendly lady behind the counter requested “$1.70 please,” I replied, “excuse me?” Yes, this lamington was just $1.70. With pricing straight out of the nineties, how could you go wrong at Ashgrove’s Golden King Bakery.

Sitting down to survey my low-cost lamington that afternoon, I began to think it was a little too square for my liking. Should lamingtons be quite so brick-like, I wondered. Was this lamington too cheap? I sliced it in two to reveal a firm, dense sponge and I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite. The icing was set, rather than sticky, and the cake was a little closer to butter cake than sponge cake. I would have liked a lighter sponge, but the slightly heavier cake was nicely offset by the firmer icing.

On the whole, this was a lamington I really enjoyed. With a cup of Earl Grey and a novel, I felt entirely satisfied. It was also a generous size, and, at the budget price of $1.70 it might be Brisbane’s cheapest lamington.

On another note, I am just now realising that a blog about lamingtons is not a very visually appealing thing. Perhaps we’ll have to resort to eating some pink lamingtons for the sake of some colour. But I do detest pink lamingtons.

The Verdict: 7.2

Golden King Bakery | 239 Waterworks Rd, Ashgrove

A breakfast lamington

I bought this week’s lamington at Gerbino’s in Kelvin Grove. This lamington looked really promising, it’s non-uniform shape conjured up images of an old nanna in her country kitchen whipping up an afternoon tea of lamingtons.

This lamington looked so good I ate it for breakfast as soon as I arrived home. It felt soft and light and looked just like a good lamington should – a little bit wonky and imperfect! I’m not sure if lamingtons meet the nutritional requirements of what is considered a healthy breakfast, but given that one of the hallmarks of a good blog is apparently regularity, I need to fit lamingtons into my diet somewhere.

The standout feature of this lamington was the chocolate icing, it was moist, thick and rolled in just the right amount of coconut. The icing was so wonderfully thick, it was as though this sponge had been twice dipped in delicious, sticky chocolate. The drawback was the sponge which was just the slightest bit dry. Of course, I am a little picky, but one has to be when in search of the perfect lamington!

This lamington was really really good, but the slightly dry sponge meant it fell just short of excellent.

*I actually ate this lamington for breakfast on Saturday, because Gerbino’s Kelvin Grove store is not open on Sundays.

The verdict: 7.9

Gerbino’s Pasticceria | Shop 10A, 57 Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gerbinos-Kelvin-Grove/131040233677595?fref=ts

Just another Lamington Sunday

I grabbed this little lamington at Kelvin Lee Hot Bread on Musk St as I was leaving the Kelvin Grove market. When I laid eyes on the cake display, I had high hopes. Each lamington had been individually cling-wrapped to keep it fresh. It was perhaps not a sign of environmental friendliness, but I felt sure it was a sign that they took their lamingtons seriously. In the afternoon, I sat down to unpack my woolly biscuit alongside a cup of tea. It felt nice and light, and some extra coconut had been packed into the cling-wrap to ensure no chocolate went uncovered. I began to wonder if this Vietnamese hot bread lamington was going to be the dark horse to draw ahead in our lamington race. I like to cut my lamingtons in half before I taste them in order to get a good idea of what I am dealing with. And so I cut my Kelvin Lee lamington in two, revealing (to my horror) that the sponge cake had been singed in the oven. One side of the lamington was dark brown and tasted a little burnt. This was a shame because the icing was wonderfully moist and the un-burnt sponge was tasty. I’m sorry Kelvin Lee hot bread, but you should have cut off that burnt edge. I’ll be back to give you a second chance in the future, and maybe try one of those yummy-looking Vietnamese rolls.

My verdict: 5.3

I gave our novice taster a chunk of the Kelvin Lee lamington to eat (from the good side) and he contributed the following:

Brittle, non-descript and although a promise and hint of fluffiness to the touch it did not deliver once in the mouth. Coconut exterior was good, but the added coconut padding on top a tad too much of a good thing.

Novice Rating: 5.7

Overall: 5.5  😦

Kelvin Lee Hot Bread | 48 Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove

$2.90 each

The First Lamington Sunday

This Sunday marked our first morning tea dedicated to the task of lamington tasting. What better place to begin our quest for Australia’s best than in the state which lays claim to the creation of the humble lamington. This morning, we sampled lamingtons from three different bakeries. The sources of our lamingtons were arbitrary; we simply bought lamingtons where we knew we could find them.

We judged each lamington according to a rigorous and meticulous methodology. Each lamington received a final score out of ten, taking into account texture, flavour, freshness, and appearance. We’re not quite the CWA, but we’re confident we know a good lamington when we meet one.

This Sunday we were three. Myself, The Traditionalist, I believe a lamington should only be chocolate, no cream, no jam, no funny business. Our second judge is also a lover of the lamington, but perhaps a fairer, less critical judge. She had something nice to say about every lamington – so we’ve labelled her The Diplomat. Our trio was rounded off by a European who was not even sure if he had even eaten a lamington before. He is, therefore, The Novice.

The Yeronga Bakery & Cafe Lamington – 6.7/10

This lamington featured a darker chocolate icing than we thought was usual. It felt light and soft to touch, so we felt hopeful. At $2.95 each, this is your run-of-the-mill lamington. We ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhed’ over this  little lamington. In the end, we felt underwhelmed and uninspired. The sponge was a little dry and the icing was just not quite right. The chocolate had a bitter taste, almost a saltiness. For me, this lamington typified what the average Australian lamington has become – just a little, well, average.

The Diplomat: 7

The Traditionalist: 6

The Novice: 7

The Giant Lamington – Kelvin Grove Village Markets 8/10

This colossal treat comes covered in ganache and shredded coconut, with an extra layer of chocolate ganache spread through the middle for good measure. I admit I was wary of this one, the shredded coconut looked just a tad too trendy for me. Obviously more open-minded in her lamington approach than me, The Diplomat exclaimed, “Oooh, I like the shredded coconut.”  At $5.50, it’s good value for money and is really a lamington to be shared. The proof was in the eating, and this was an impressive lamington. The shredded coconut and ganache made it feel more substantial than your usual lamington. The sponge was a little heavy, but perhaps it needs to be to carry all that ganache.  The sponge cake was also quite yellow (perhaps indicating the addition of custard powder in the sponge mixture – we know what the CWA ladies would say about that). All in all though, this lamington went down well with a cup of tea. We decided it was deserving of our “Best New Age Lamington” title for innovation.

The Traditionalist: 7.5

The Diplomat: 8.5

The Novice: 8

The Davies Bakery Tarragindi Lamington 9.2/10

This lamington knocked my socks off! It was a beautifully conducted symphony of sponge, chocolate, and coconut. Have we found Australia’s best lamington on the first day of our lamington quest? We were all impressed by the delicate sponge encased within the chocolate and coconut. It was fresh, springy, delicate. Absolutely divine. “Ok, ok, now I see why you like lamingtons so much,” declared The Novice. At $3 each or 6 for $10, it’s worth getting the half dozen.

The Diplomat: 8.7

The Traditionalist: 9

The Novice: 10

Perhaps three varieties of lamington in one sitting was a tad too ambitious, shortly after my third lamington had been devoured my belt burst open in defeat. Next Sunday I’ll wear my stretchy pants.

The Lamingtons

Kelvin Grove Village Markets | Blamey St, Kelvin Grove, Every Saturday

Yeronga Bakery & Cafe | 429 Fairfield Road, Yeronga

Davies Bakery Tarragindi | 4/6 Gapap Street, Tarragindi