Lamingtons
The popular bakery staple made gluten free AND vegan. Bring on the picnics.
Gluten-Free Nut Free Vegan
Makes 28cm x 18cm / 11 x 7 inch tray
Ingredients
Sponge Dry Ingredients
150g Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour
67g cornflour
½ level teaspoon golden flaxmeal
27g potato starch
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ + ⅛ teaspoon bicarb soda
⅛ teaspoon salt
225g caster sugar
22g desiccated coconut
Sponge Dry Ingredients
360g soy milk* (see note)
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
36g vegetable shortening (see note)
103g rice bran oil
58g aquafaba* (must read note first)
⅛ + pinch teaspoon cream of tartar
Vegetable Shortening
70g cacao butter
140mls / ½ cup + 2 teaspoons rice bran oil
Chocolate Icing
80g sweet rice flour* (see note)
80g powdered coconut sugar *
40g cocoa
20g cacao butter, melted
110g maple syrup
120g boiling water
Method
Sponge Method
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line the base of a 20cmx30cm lamington tray with baking paper. There is no need to grease or line the sides.
Have all ingredients at room temperature.
In a jug mix soy milk with apple cider vinegar and vanilla and set aside to curdle.
Whip the aquafaba and cream of tartar for about 4 minutes until fluffy and soft peaks form. Set aside.
Sieve the Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour, cornflour, flaxmeal, potato starch, baking powder, bicarb soda, salt and sugar three times into the bowl of a mixer or a bowl suitable for hand held beaters. Whisk to thoroughly distribute all these ingredients. Add vegetable shortening and mix til broken down and crumbled into flour then add the oil and beat for at least a minute to coat all the flour well with fat.
Pour in a third of the soy milk and beat until combined. Add another third and beat again to get a smooth consistency. Add the last third of soy milk and beat well for a couple of minutes, scraping sides of bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. The mix will be runny.
Provided your whipped aquafaba is all fluff and no liquid is sitting underneath it, tip into cake batter otherwise spoon in to avoid adding any of the liquid. Only use a whisk to blend it in to the batter NOT the beaters or it will deflate. Make sure it is evenly blended.
Pour this in to the prepared cake tin and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, carefully rotating the tin at 20 minutes. A skewer will come out clean when the cake is cooked and golden.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge to loosen before very carefully flipping out onto another rack, peeling the baking paper off and leaving to completely cool. Once cold cut into 24 pieces (5cm square) and using two forks dip each into Chocolate Icing. Before rolling in coconut let excess icing drip off into the icing bowl. Using another two forks gently toss in coconut. Place onto a rack set over a cookie tray to catch any further drips. Once set store covered in the fridge and let sit at room temperature for a bit before serving. Will keep for about 5 days.
Vegetable Shortening
Gently melt cacao butter at low temperature and bring back to room temp if hot. It needs to be the same temp as the oil. This is a must or they will not mix.
Combine both in a food processor and blend for a minute, scraping the sides down to make sure they are combined. Quickly pour into silicone moulds and place on a tray in the freezer. It is easy to pop them out of silicone moulds once solid. Otherwise pour into a container it will be stored in.
Quick freezing stops it from separating so keep your container shallow rather than deep. It can be used within an hour of making.
Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 months or the freezer for 12 months.
Chocolate Icing
Sieve rice flour, coconut sugar and cocoa. Combine cacao butter, maple syrup and boiling water then mix into sieved ingredients until a lovely smooth consistency. Let stand for 5 minutes before using if too runny.
Notes
This recipe only has the weight of each ingredient because it is critical the correct proportions are maintained. If you change any ingredient or the amount be prepared for disappointment. (see Acknowledgement)
Aquafaba - For this recipe when using the liquid from canned chickpeas it is necessary to heat it in a small saucepan and reduce it by a third. A can generally has about 180mls liquid so when you have 120mls or half a cup left take it off the heat. This must come back to room temperature before using. Weigh this reduced aquafaba for the recipe.
Soy milk - Bonsoy brand soy milk has been used in this recipe. Use good quality soy milk as it will affect the end result both in texture and taste.
Powdered coconut sugar is coconut sugar blended at high speed to a powder.
Sweet rice flour - also called glutinous rice flour is available in the Asian section of some supermarkets otherwise from an Asian specialty store. It is gluten free.
Acknowledgement - Thanks go to https://yupitsvegan.com/vegan-white-cake/ for perfecting the Vegan cake this Gluten Free version is based on. There are extensive explanations for the method used in this cake. Much trial and error and science experimentation went into making this a Gluten Free Vegan cake so that we could have Vegan Lamingtons made with our Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour.