Full transparency: I had never heard of a lamington before attempting this weekend’s baking project. I’ve never heard of them and have never seen one, and so was very pleasantly surprised when my Australian husband took a look and exclaimed, “Wow! Those really look like lamingtons!”

If you are also unfamiliar with this sweet treat from down under — and no, I’m not talking about my husband ;) — lamingtons are an Australian cake made from squares of sponge cake and traditionally coated in chocolate and coconut. Sounds good, right? I know I’m definitely going to plan to indulge in some next time we make our way down to Australia!

So how did I get to baking lamingtons this weekend without a single clue as to what they even were? Well, I just got two very exciting deliveries recently (there’s that shopping addiction I mentioned):

The New Way to Cake cookbook by Benjamina Ebuehi from season 7 of The Great British Bake Off
A Cuisinart food processor

Obviously, my next baking project had to be from Benji’s new cookbook and had to be a recipe that required a food processor. So as I flipped through every page of this gorgeous cake book, I found this delicious and summery recipe for lime, coconut, and mango lamingtons. Perfect for the season and perfect for trying out my new toy. Win, win!

What I love about all of the recipes in this book is that they are all so easy to follow. So easy that even if you’ve never heard of these baked goods, you can still easily follow along! With that, follow along below as this beginner baker attempts a brand new recipe…

First, I started by prepping the fresh fruit ingredients. I chopped up the mangoes into 1-inch pieces so that I could easily pop them into my new food processor when I was ready. Then I zested my limes and made the lime zest sugar.

I set the mangoes and remaining limes (minus the zest) aside, and started making the sponge cake. I combined the lime zest sugar, butter, and vanilla using my stand mixer until it was pale and fluffy as directed. I’m still coming to terms with what directions like this mean, but think I got to a good place (given it turned out to be quite successful!). Here’s what pale & fluffy means to me:

Once you’re happy with the consistency of the sugar, butter, and vanilla, add in 3 eggs one at a time. Next add your dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, and baking powder sifted together) and milk in batches, alternating between the two, starting and ending with the flour. Sifting the dry ingredients together and alternating between the dry ingredients & milk were very specific instructions from the book. I’d never taken the time to do either of those steps with cakes in the past, and think that was key to this sponge coming out so light and airy — I loved it!

When all of the ingredients are combined, pour into a prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Take it out of the oven and let it cool.

While the sponge is cooling, prepare the mango purée. Throw the cut mango pieces, confectioners’ sugar, and lime juice into a food processor. Process until smooth, then set up your two dipping stations: 1) a shallow bowl with the mango purée and 2) a large dish of shredded coconut.

Now, back to the cake! Once it’s cool, trim the edges and cut into cubes. The recipe calls for 16 cubes, but I tend to prefer smaller pieces, so ended up with 21 not-so-perfectly-shaped rectangles/squares. Then, with each sponge cube, dip it into the mango puree and coat all sides, then roll the mango-coated cube around in the shredded coconut until it’s fully coated. Place each cube onto a wire rack and continue until you’ve coated all of the little cakes in mango purée and shredded coconut. Here’s the hard part: wait until all of the cakes have firmed up before digging in or arranging on a serving dish or cake stand!