Recipe: Little chocolate lamingtons

Little chocolate lamingtons. Photo / Babiche Martens

Makes approximately 24

120g butter, softened - plus extra for greasing the tin
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour
1/4 cup milk
250g coconut flakes, or use shredded

Icing
3 cups icing sugar
70g cocoa - preferably Dutch
40g butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbs brandy

1 Preheat the oven to 190C. Grease a 23cm cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until pale.

2 Add one egg, beat then repeat.

3 Fold in the flour alternating with the milk, until smooth. Spoon into the tin and bake for approximately 25 minutes. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out on to a cooling rack. When cold wrap in plastic wrap and leave for up to 1 hour or as long as 12, to enable easier cutting.

4 Combine the icing ingredients with 100ml of boiling water. Stir until smooth.

5 Cut the cake into 3cm squares. Spread the coconut on a tray. Dip each square of cake briefly into the icing then the coconut, coating all sides. Place on the cooling rack and leave to dry.