Raw Lamingtons
Raw vegan lamingtons inspired by the classic lamington! They consist of an aerated cashew ‘sponge’ covered in chocolate ganache and coconut filled with cashew cream and raspberry chia jam.
To be honest, I never really understood why a food blogger or anyone on social media would say that they are excited to bring their readers a recipe. But after I made these raw vegan lamingtons, I finally got it!
I took one bite into a lamington and my eyes rolled to the back of my head. I wish someone else was there to enjoy them with me… or laugh at my weird facial expression. I’m sharing this recipe with you so you can enjoy them too!
Even though I made these lamingtons from scratch, I can’t believe that they are vegan, made of wholefood ingredients and are (mostly) raw. They are fluffy, have a good amount of chocolate on them and are covered in crisp coconut. The jam and cream in the middle just make you want more.
But how can something raw be fluffy? The coconut oil in the desiccated coconut and coconut cream in the ‘sponge’ stabilizes the other ingredients. With the help of a food processor or just enough hand-mixing, the coconut oil solidifies and keeps the ground cashews aerated. The ‘sponge’ mixture is reminiscent of a friand, which makes it so much fancier and delicious than conventional lamingtons.
I hope this recipe brings you as much joy as it did for meeee!
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Raw lamingtons
Ingredients
‘Sponge’
- 3 cups raw cashews
- 1 ½ cups desiccated coconut / fine shredded coconut
- 1/4-1/2 cup thick scoopable canned coconut cream
- ½ cup any light-coloured sweetener, such as rice malt syrup or maple syrup
Raspberry chia jam
- 1 ½ cups raspberries
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp any light-coloured sweetener, such as rice malt syrup or maple syrup, to taste
Cashew cream
- 1 ½ cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
- ½ cup thick scoopable canned coconut cream
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp any light-coloured sweetener, such as rice malt syrup or maple syrup, optional
Coating
- ½ cup cacao butter or coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup thick scoopable canned coconut cream
- ¼ tbsp cocoa or raw cacao powder
- 2 tbsp any liquid sweetener, such as maple syrup or coconut nectar, to taste
- 1 ½ cups desiccated coconut / fine shredded coconut
Instructions
- Line 2 containers of the same size with baking paper.
To prepare the 'sponge':
- Add the cashews to a food processor and process until it forms fine crumbs. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse until just combined. Do not over process the mixture otherwise you'll end up with a very solid sponge.
- Halve the sponge mixture and press each mixture into your lined containers. Set aside in the fridge.
To make the raspberry chia jam:
- Mash the raspberries with a fork and mix through the chia seeds and optional sweetener. Set aside to thicken
To make the cashew cream:
- Drain the cashews. Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until it forms a very smooth cream. Remove and set it aside in fridge.
To make the coating:
- Gently melt all ingredients except the desiccated coconut over a double boiler. Mix until well combined.
To assemble:
- Remove the chilled 'sponge' from the containers. Place one sponge on top of the other and cut into even-sized pieces.
- Using a fork, dip a sponge into the chocolate (dip all sides except one) then quickly dip into the coconut and set aside. Repeat for the remaining sponge cakes.
- Separate the iced sponge cakes into 2 groups. Spread raspberry chia jam on the plain side of one group of sponge cakes. Spread cashew cream on the plain side of the other half of sponge cakes. Sandwich together a sponge with jam and a sponge with cream.
- Enjoy the lamingtons immediately. The lamingtons can be stored in an airtight container in fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
Tip 2: A quicker way to coat and decorate the lamingtons is to spread the jam and cream on the sponge slabs in Step 1 of ‘To assemble’. Then sandwich the slabs together, cut them into pieces then dip each ‘sandwich’ in chocolate and coconut.
Hi, these look amazing and I’m planning to make them for my sister’s birthday, but I don’t have two containers the same size for the sponge. Can you tell me roughly the size of your containers? I have a lamington tin (30cm x 20cm) but I think it might be too big looking at the quantities in the recipe. Thanks!
Megan
Hi Megan! Oh that sounds fabulous. I used a container half of the size of what you mentioned. So if you use your lamington tin and just cut the sponge into two, it’ll work the same. I hope this helps 🙂
Hello! I just wanted to leave a comment to say that I’ve just finished making these for the second time and I can’t wait to dig into one later!! My mum loved them so much the first time I made them, so she asked me to make them for her birthday today 🙂 I will say that both times I did not make the coating recipe, purely for a lack & cost of ingredients. The first time I made these was for this years’ Australia Day and I used a Loving Earth hazelnut chocolate butter as coating, but I ran out so I used melted chocolate which turned out well. This second time around I planned to just use melted chocolate but of course it’s much colder now so it was a bit of a disaster hahaha…. long story short, the temperature did not aid my using melted chocolate as a coating!!! But these are just divine, so I surely will make them again, and next time I will use actual the coating recipe!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Hi Isobel! Thanks for your comment :). I’m soo glad that you and your mum enjoyed them!
Interesting that your melted chocolate didn’t work as a coating! Sometimes I find that when the chocolate is too warm, it just doesn’t stick to whether you dip in it. But at the same time, if it’s too cold, it can be a disaster too as it’ll set unevenly. If I don’t have the chocolate spread on hand, I use melted chocolate mixed in with coconut cream – the cream thickens the chocolate which makes it easier for it to stick on the lamington. Good luck lovely xo
These look so good! Mine don’t look the same though, my sponge mix is too wet. I’ve added heaps more dedicated coconut to try dry it out but I reckon the cream still has too much water in it! Glad to try agin though 🙂
I noticed in your paragraph about the sponge that you said the coconut butter in the ‘sponge’ helps it, but coconut butter is not listed in the sponge ingredients. Maybe you meant the cream?
Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Thanks Ciara! Oh that’s odd that your sponge mix is too wet! Did you put your coconut cream in the fridge overnight and use only the thick part (mentioned in notes)? Different brands of coconut cream have different thickness/fat levels so I guess I used a really thick coconut cream.
And whoops, thank you for pointing out my mistake in the post! Yes, I do mean the coconut cream. When I put whipped coconut cream in the fridge, it thickens up and would help aerate the sponge mixture! I’ll change this right now.
Thanks so much for popping by and commenting xo
Hey again Ciara! I had a bit of time today to retest this recipe and now I think that I incorrectly wrote down the liquid amounts in the recipe. I made double this amount when I made the recipe the first 2 times but I must’ve forgotten to half the liquid amounts when I typed it up. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention! I’ve changed the recipe accordingly.
Beautiful!
Aaw, thank you so much Julie!
how long does the sponge have to be in the fridge for?
I’d say the sponge needs to be in the fridge for at least 30 minutes! It depends on the temperature of your fridge. The sponge just needs to be firm enough for you to cut without much mess xo
Oh Anthea these little bites of heaven have been on my mind all week! I cant wait to have an afternoon free to give them a go! That spongey centre looks incredible, they seriously don’t look raw at all! You’re an absolute genius! xxx
Aw, thank you beautiful! I seriously wish I made more of these so I could enjoy them at any time! I couldn’t believe how spongey and melt-in-your-mouth these were! I hope you are enjoying your weekend xo
Im guessing i would have the same facial expression! These looks so good, look at that JAM! x
Hahaha, I’m glad that I wouldn’t be the only one with that facial expression! Thank you so much Sam! I wish I had some of these lamingtons in the freezer so I could enjoy them on this lazy weekend xo
Hello,
I found your blog via Canberra Times today – and I love it. Your recipes look easy to make, even for this warm food lover. And your photos are so pretty. Thank you. These lamingtons look so yummy, I want to try them.
Carly
Hey Carly! It’s lovely to hear from you and thank you for your kinds words! Yes, food is only as complicated as we make it! And honestly, we don’t all have the time for complex food, haha! Oh, I definitely love warm/roasted food as well ;), especially in Canberra’s winter! Sending you warmth and love xoxo
Hello Anthea! I stumbled upon your Instagram account by coincidence but as I was so captivated by your passion for raw, wholesome foods that have been captured perfectly in your pictures, even went through your website. I just thought I’d drop you a comment to say how much I enjoy watching passionate people do things they love and how much I enjoyed reading your blog. Big hugs from Malaysia xx
Hello Kristen! Aw, thank you SO much lovely! That’s very kind of you! I love writing, developing recipes and taking photographs so I’m glad this touched you! I hope you continue to enjoy my blog posts! Let me know if there is anything in particular that you’d like to see :). Sending love from Australia xo
Sounds amazing Anthea! So impressed by the intricacy of your recipes. Wonder what the difference between coconut oil and butter is? Thought what I have here in chilly uk is ‘butter’ till I heat it to be ‘oil’..? ? Big hug
Helllo beautiful! And haha, thank you! The different between coconut oil and butter is like the difference between peanut oil and peanut butter. But since coconut oil has a higher melting point, it’s solid when cool and looks just like coconut butter (unlike the peanut equivalent). When coconut oil is melted it’s clear but when coconut butter is melted, it’s still white! I’ve been meaning to do a post on this as I’m a tad obsessed with coconut butter! Much love xo
Thanks for explaining Anthea! I suppose it’s different again but is coconut cream closer to coco butter? The white stuff that comes in blocks? Asking because I haven’t seen coconut butter in shops .. Yet 🙂 big hug gorgeous lady xx
My pleasure! I think coconut cream is quite different from coconut butter (coconut cream is a liquid extract of pure coconut whereas coconut butter is just dried coconut that’s been blended). Yeah, coconut butter is hard to find in mainstream shops. In Australia, I find it in blocks in Asian stores and in jars in health food stores. Sometimes it’s called creamed coconut! Here’s a UK brand that stocks coconut butter: https://coconut-merchant.com/product/organic-rich-creamy-coconut-butter-300ml/. Much love xo
Hi, these look great, as do all of your creations! Could I use date syrup as an alternative to rice malt syrup?
Thank you
Aw, thank you so much Chloe! I think you’d be able to use date syrup! It would add a deeper caramel sweetness, however, the darkness of the date syrup may change the colour of the lamingtons. I hope you enjoy making them! xo