One of the best things about Australia is the lamington. It's one of my all time favourite desserts, ever since I was a kid. Because it's so easy to find and relatively cheap, I've actually never made lamingtons before. According to SBS food, recently it was national lamington day. They put together a lamington recipe collection that has a slight twist on the ol' fav. One in particular caught my fancy - the Chocolate and Raspberry lamington. Mmm sounded delicious! It really wasn't such a stretch as lamingtons sometimes comes with jam and cream. This recipe just used raspberry jam and chocolate sponge (instead of regular vanilla). 

One evening when I was home alone, I made this recipe. Well... I started making it. I did it in stages. 1) Bake the sponge 2) whipped the cream and stir in the jam 3) prepared the ganache 4) construct the lamingtons. Verdict? Yes they were delicious and ridiculously big as I sandwiched together two pieces of sponge. The cake was pretty dense so eating it was a staged process too. 

This is my first attempt at making lamingtons

I chose not to blog it though as I think I could make it better. "How so?" I hear you ask. Well this is why I'm blogging this particular recipe. This is my take on the Chocolate Raspberry Lamington - I made it into a swiss roll. I decided to change the sponge cake recipe and used the "Chocolate Roulade with Coffee Cream" recipe from Australia's Sweet Baking Favourites (ISBN: 9780646580050) (Published by Nestle and Pacific Magazines). This cake is definitely for the sweet tooth folks out there. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Sponge
6 egg whites
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar (I reduced to about 90g)
1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder
2 Tblspn plain flour
2 Tblspn boiling water

Chocolate ganache
200g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
300ml thickened cream
Filling and construction
100 ml thickened cream 
1/4 cup (85g) raspberry jam (1 reduced to about 70g)
1/2 to 1 cup shredded coconut

Method
Sponge
1. Reheat oven to 170C. Grease a swiss roll pan or shallow baking tray (~35 x 25 cm). Line pan with baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition to ensure the sugar dissolves. Sift cocoa and flour over egg mixture then pour in hot water. Fold gently. 

3. Spread mixture into prepared pan evenly. Try get this as levelled as possible. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cooked through and springy to touch.

4. Meanwhile, lay a clean tea towel on the table and cut a sheet of baking paper the same size as your baking pan, and lay the paper over the towel. When cake is cooked, remove from oven and turn the hot sponge onto the paper and peel away the lining paper. This maybe tricky, I used a chopping board to help me flip out the sponge. Working quickly and using the tea towel as a guide, roll the sponge into a swiss roll and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Filling
5. Place cream in a medium bowl and whip til soft to medium peaks form. Stir in raspberry jam. 

6. When cake is cooled, gently unroll it and spread the cream evenly along the inner side of the roll. Gently re-roll the cake, this time using the baking paper as a guide. Place on serving dish, cover and place in fridge for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Ganache
Construction
8. Remove roll from fridge and pour ganache over roll to cover. Sprinkle with shredded coconut. Keep in fridge until ready to serve. Serve with fresh fruits.