The Challenge (Lamingtons)

I'm slightly competitive.  Just a little.  Growing up I was never good at sports.  Even grown up, now, I'm not good at physical activity.  Even walking at a slow pace on a flat surface requires the kind of visual-spacial-hand-foot-eye coordination I barely possess.  This made it a little difficult to find a good, un-awkward outlet for my competitive streak.  "I read more books than you!  I finished my homework first!  I can name the entire prime time line up of Nick at Nite in 0.43 seconds!"  These things do not make you cool.

I'm older and wiser now.  Still not much cooler.  

Told you that story to tell you this story.  Mr P, of Delicious Delicious Delicious (who is very cool) is holding a Lamington contest.  You can read all about the contest and how it came about here.  Basically, a Lamington is an Australian snack cake made of jam sandwiched between two pieces of cake, dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut.  Sounds super yummy, right?  Well, Mr. P is re-inventing the Lamington.  The challenge:  Create your own Lamington using the basic formula with your own ingredients.  I hadn't even finished reading the post before my inner dorky competitive streak decided that we were going to win this thing.  It took about 0.43 seconds.

(That's right.  My inner dorky competitive streak has its own identity.  We make a good team - she always picks me first.)

So where to start?  Well, lately, it's been cold.  Snowy.  Wintry, even.  And I've been slightly obsessed with Baileys hot chocolate.  Everyone loves hot chocolate, right?  And who doesn't want a shot of Irish Cream liquor in their hot chocolate?  Curl up beside the fire, NCLEX review book in one hand, snowman mug of boozed up sugary sweetness in the other.  That's my idea of winter utopia.

(Until next winter.  Then I'm going back to trashy murder mysteries.)

So, why not share this creamy chocolate concoction with the world?  Perhaps...in the form of a Lamington? 

Meet the Baileys Irish Cream Hot Chocolate Lambington.  

Trust me, you need this.  You need this now.  Stat, as we nurses say.

"We're losing him!  One Baileys Irish Cream Hot Chocolate Lambington, stat!"

Baileys Irish Cream Hot Chocolate Lambington

Chocolate Fudge Cake

(from Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook, Kathleen King)

6 tablespoons salted butter

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup flour

Baileys Icing

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Chocolate sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a 8" square pan with parchment paper.  Place the butter and chocolate in a medium microwaveable bowl and microwave on low, 30-40 seconds, stirring until melted.  Stir in the sugars, then the eggs (one at a time), then the vanilla and lastly the flour.  Stir well after each addition, making sure that the batter is smooth.  Pour into the pan.  Bake for 25-27 minutes, until set in the middle.  Cool on a wire rack.  Remove the paper from the pan after about 20-30 minutes and allow the cake to finish cooling.

While the cake is baking, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Beat in the Baileys and add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time, until the icing is the desired thickness.  You want it to be firm, but not stiff.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes.  When the cake is completely cooled, cut into 16 2 inch pieces.  Spread 1 tablespoon of frosting between two pieces of cake.  Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, along with the rest of the icing.  Once that middles are set, spread a crumb coat of icing on the top and sides of each cake sandwich.  Allow to set 20 minutes in the refrigerator.  Ice the Lambingtons again, and roll the top and sides in the chocolate sprinkles.  (Your fingers will get messy.)   Store chilled, if you can manage to not each them all at once.