History of Lamington or Lemmington

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Photo from Casa Del website

Lamington or Lemmington – The word lamington means layers of beaten gold. An Australian dessert of little cubes or squares of sponge cake, dipped in chocolate, then rolled in coconut. In Victoria (State of Australia) they often add a layer of raspberry or plum jam.

They are served with tea in the afternoon. Lamington’s are so popular in Australia that the cakes are a favorite means of raising money for school groups, churches, and scouts and girl guides. These money making adventure are called Lamington Drives.

The cake is named after Charles Wallace Baillie, Lord Lamington, the governor of Queensland from 1895 to 1901. Lord Lamington was known for wearing a homburg hat that looked like the cakes. For many years lamingtons were served on state ceremonial occasions in Queensland. But Baron Lamington himself could by no means abide them. He invariably referred to them as “those bloody poofy woolly biscuits.” Another source recounts the slightly less dramatic circumstance of the baron's cook concocting the dessert as a way to use up stale or slightly burnt sponge cake.

The Scots and the New Zealanders also claim credit. The Scots say it was a sheep shearer's wife in the village of Lamington who made the cake for a group of traveling sheep shearers.

New Zealanders enjoy lamingtons just as much as the Australians. They refer to the cake as leamington or lemmington, which are names of towns.