I’m sitting here facing the window watching the very first snow fall of the year. There is definitely something magical about sitting inside and watching the snow.

The snow is kind of appropriate for this post since this recipe I’m about to share with you looks like it’s been covered in snow… the shredded coconut on top makes it look that way! Also this would be a wonderful treat to make over the holidays or to give as an edible gift to someone else.

Before I get onto the recipe let me tell you about how this dessert came about. So last week I was on Facebook and someone had asked a question about what sort of treats you associate with birthday parties as a kid and the first thing that popped into my head were lamingtons!

Not sure what lamingtons are? Well they are a quintessential Australian dessert… you can’t have grown up in Australia without eating them! They pretty much made an appearance at most birthday parties I went to as a kid and at my own. If I was to compare them to an American dish I’d say they are the equivalent of PB&J in terms of how common they were to eat growing up.

Anyway so as soon as I had lamingtons in my head I knew that I had to create a paleo version of them! Traditionally lamingtons are made by making a square sponge cake then cutting the cake into squares, dipping them into chocolate icing and topping with shredded coconut. Sometimes they are made by placing two halves together with a layer of strawberry jam in between.

Strangely enough after I had this idea in my head I kept seeing images of lamingtons pop up on my Instagram feed!

I started off by making a paleo friendly sponge cake… unfortunately when I went to take it out of the cake pan it fell apart slightly on one side BUT because I had to cut it up into pieces anyway I was able to save the cake! Although the pieces didn’t all turn out the same size they still tasted AMAZING! [Read more…]