A history of the Lamington (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of the lamington? ›

Locals suggest lamingtons were served by a female chef or created by accident by a “nervous maid” at the opening of Ipswich Technical College. Unfortunately, the first recipe for lamingtons appeared in Queensland Country Life on 17 December 1900, predating the opening of the college in 1901.

We stock a number of lamingtons in our range including traditional lamingtons, lamington fingers, jam lamingtons and even raspberry lamingtons. We sell and deliver lamingtons to the USA and the rest of the world.

This Australian cake was first invented in Queensland, with a recipe appearing in the Queensland Country Life newspaper as early as 1900. According to Queensland Government House, the lamington was created by the chef of the state's eighth governor, Lord Lamington, to feed unexpected visitors.

While there is some debate about the exact origin of lamingtons, they are widely associated with Australia. The most commonly accepted story is that lamingtons were named after Lord Lamington, who served as the Governor of Queensland, Australia, from 1896 to 1901.

Some Australians shorten the name to "Lammo" (singular) or "Lammos" (plural).

Australian take on a British product

Chemist CP Callister invented Vegemite in Melbourne in 1923 when Australian food manufacturer Fred Walker asked him to create a spread similar to British Marmite.

Despite some interesting claims from New Zealand, the origin of the lamington began between 1896 to 1901 in Toowoomba, Brisbane.

The park's lush rainforests include one of the largest upland subtropical rainforest remnants in the world and the most northern Antarctic beech cool temperate rainforests in Australia. The roots of the oldest Antarctic beech trees are over 5,000 years old.

Lamingtons are covered with coconut shavings or desiccated coconut. The cake is known as the “most Australian cake”. Lamingtons are eaten on special occasions like Australia Day. Since the dessert is popular and important to Australian culture, it was honored with a special day to celebrate it.

Classic Lamingtons made the traditional old-school way do not have jam or cream sandwiched in the middle. But you'll come across many Aussies who won't have Lamingtons any other way (some RecipeTin family members included). My view – Lamingtons should stand as a great cake without any filling.

What is the old name for Australia and New Zealand? ›

In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the "Australasian colonies". In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e., the Australian colonies) and New Zealand.

New Zealand as an Australian state

One of the reasons that New Zealand chose not to join Australia was due to perceptions that the indigenous Māori population would suffer as a result.

The park's lush rainforests include one of the largest upland subtropical rainforest remnants in the world and the most northern Antarctic beech cool temperate rainforests in Australia. The roots of the oldest Antarctic beech trees are over 5,000 years old.

Known as 'Woonoongoora' in the Yugambeh language, the mountains of Lamington National Park are sacred and spiritual, places to be nurtured and respected.

Lamington is an andesitic stratovolcano with a 1.3-km-wide breached summit crater containing a lava dome that rises above the coastal plain of the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea north of the Owen Stanley Range.