Lamingtons tops to eat on great day

THE humble lamington is being twisted and turned into a range of new varieties as the traditional sweet treat has sparked a food frenzy before Australia Day celebrations this weekend.

It comes as new data from Taste.com.au, Australia’s no. 1 food site owned by News Corp has revealed lamingtons are the top Australia Day dessert consumers are searching recipes for.

An analysis of data in midJanuary alone has found searches for Australia Day desserts have increased by more than 546 per cent this month.

Overall, there has been more than a 107 per cent rise in searches for lamingtons nationally, as Taste recently launched other varieties including a Caramilk, mega lamington and a fairybread mashup version. By state, ‘ Australia Day’ recipe searches rose by 600 per cent in the ACT, 410 per cent in Queensland, 272 per cent in NSW, 166 per cent in Victoria, 60 per cent in South Australia and 53 per cent in Western Australia.

But pavlova searches have dropped by 10 per cent in the same period.

Taste.com.au food director Michelle Southan said Australia Day was much more about party and finger food, which is what makes lamingtons the most popular choice compared with Christmas desserts like pavlova.

“Lamingtons are quick and easy to make at home with so many different flavour choices these days from traditional choc and coconut to fairy bread lamingtons,” she said.

“You can even cheat and use ready-made cake to save time, it’s the perfect shareable dessert for Australia Day barbecues.”

Retailers are also cashing in on the lamington craze with Coles releasing a lamington hot cross bun from today.

The supermarket giant decided to mash the lamington together with the Easter treat after customer research found 54 per cent said they’d love to eat a lamington-flavoured bun.

The limited edition buns are made with chocolate studded milk chocolate chips, toasted shaved coconut chunks and bursts of raspberry.

Coles senior category manager Freddie Hancock said customers were becoming increasingly open to new flavours. “We know Australians love traditional products that have a nostalgic pull but with a modern-day twist – and we think we’ve got a winner here with our lamington hot cross buns,” he said.