Happy Australia Day for tomorrow! Now, it's controversial as to whether the Lamingon originated from New Zealand or Australia. But today we're claiming it as ours. So see below, an Australian favourite, the Lamington!

Ingredients

• 125g butter, softened 
1 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
3 eggs
• 
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 
1/2 cup milk
• 
2 cups desiccated coconut

Icing

• 3 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 
1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 
1/2 cup boiling water

Step 1


Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 3cm-deep, 20cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan. Line with baking paper, leaving a 2cm overhang on all sides. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition (mixture may curdle).

Step 2


Sift half the flour over butter mixture. Stir to combine. Add half the milk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack. Cover with a clean tea towel. Set aside overnight.

Step 3


Make icing: Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add butter and boiling water. Stir until smooth.

Step 4


Cut cake into 15 pieces. Place coconut in a dish. Using a fork, dip 1 piece of cake in icing. Shake off excess. Toss in coconut. Place on a wire rack over a baking tray. Repeat with remaining cake, icing and coconut. Stand for 2 hours or until set. Serve.

It's been hot, I'm mean really, really hot. Too hot to BBQ and too hot to slave away in the kitchen that's for sure! This is a really simple recipe, takes about 10 minutes and gets you out of the kitchen in a flash, perfect for a hot summer night. Oh, and did I mention it's delicious?

What you need: 

• 250-300 grams of raw prawns
• The juice and rind of 1 medium size lemon 
• 1-2 chillies (depending on your preference for spicy) 
• Large bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped 
• Half a glass of white wine (choose whichever white you prefer to drink as you can definitely taste it!)
• Fresh linguine 
• Extra Virgin olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

What to do:

Pop your pasta in a saucepan of boiling water, you should be able to make the rest in the time your pasta takes to cook.

You'll need a good slosh of extra virgin olive oil in a pan, along with the lemon juice and wine and place over a high heat. Give it a stir for a minute or so and then pop in the chilli and lemon rind. Stir for another 3 minutes (roughly) and then lower the heat just slightly and place in the prawns. These only need a few minutes to cook, 2 minutes on either side should be plenty.

By now you should be able to drain your pasta, throw it into the pan with the chopped parsley, combine everything together and serve with a garnish of parmesan, extra parsley and a little left over lemon rind. Seriously easy and seriously yum!

How good is a nice summer sweet sweet sweet drink! I, Amy made this last night and was in HEAVEN! Please try, you will be surprised!

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Amaretto
• 1 oz lemon juice
• Ice
• 1 slice orange, or lime, or lemon, to serve for each drink
• 1 Glace cherry, to serve for each drink
• Bar sugar or granulated sugar

Method:

1. 
First of all, use fresh lemon juice whenever possible, and use a chilled glasses.

2. 
Rub the rim of your glass with a lemon slice, and dip it in bar sugar until the rim is well frosted.

3
. Shake amaretto and lemon juice or sweet/sour mix in a shaker with ice, then pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry.

How delightful this is going to be for you!!