Vegan lamingtons, anyone?

Australia Day is coming up and what better way to enjoy it than to bake some vegan lamingtons to share.

The lamington is an Aussie culinary icon and sharing vegan lamingtons with your non-vegan family and friends is a great way to do a bit of vegan advocacy. You could even give them some information or ask them to watch Dominion.

No matter how  you spend it, we wish you a happy vegan Australia Day. Ignore the ads about eating baby sheep and feel encouraged by the growing acceptance of veganism in Australia. More people are googling "vegan" than ever before, record numbers are signing up to Veganuary, more vegan products are available in more places, especially in fast-food outlets and supermarkets, and the topics of veganism and animal rights are in the media everywhere. What a positive start to 2019!

Here is a simple vegan lamington recipe from Vegan Easy.

Vegan Lamingtons

Sponge, raspberry jam and vegan buttercream wrapped in a delicious coating of chocolate and coconut.

Ingredients

Sponge:

• 70g melted Nuttelex (or other vegan margarine)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Good pinch of salt
• 150ml soy milk
• 1 cup + 1 Tbsp self raising flour

Filling:

• Raspberry jam and vegan buttercream

Coating:

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 2 heaped Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
• Good pinch of salt
• 80ml soy milk
• 2 Tbsp melted Nuttelex (or other vegan margarine)
• 1/2 Tbsp hot water
• Desiccated coconut, for rolling

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175C. Line a 23x13cm loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
2. In a bowl, combine melted Nuttelex, sugar, vanilla, salt and soy milk. Whisk to combine. Add in self-raising flour and whisk to form a smooth batter. Don't overmix!
3. Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4. Leave in tin for 5 minutes and then turn out and let sponge cool thoroughly.
5. Once cooled, split the sponge into half evenly with a serrated knife. Spread raspberry jam on each cut side of the sponge.
6. Once spread, repeat by spreading vegan buttercream (see notes) on top of the raspberry jam layer for both sponges.
7. Finally, put sponge layers back together, with both iced sides meeting in the middle once again.
8. Cut the sponge into 8 squares and set aside in the refrigerator for 15 minutes whilst making chocolate coating.
9. To prepare chocolate coating, whisk all ingredients to combine.
10. Dip each sponge square into icing and immediately roll in desiccated coconut. Repeat with remaining sponge squares and then store lamingtons in an airtight box in the refrigerator.

Notes: Make a simple vegan buttercream by whipping Nuttelex, vanilla extract and icing sugar to taste till light and fluffy.

You can make a simpler version of these lamingtons by leaving out the jam and buttercream layer in the middle.

Click here to see this vegan lamington and other recipes at Vegan Easy.