Lapland lamingtons

Morny Bakehouse, in Leyton, east London, knows how to do dazzling bakes. Described as a “modern Viennoiserie”, its collection of incredible pastries always attracts a crowd and Christmas is no different. Our favourites are the lamingtons and here they come with a winter wonderland twist – dipped in a white chocolate icing, rolled with coconut, stuffed with a cherry yuzu jam and finished with a buttercream swirl and seasonal sprinkles of your choice. mornybakehouse.com; @morny_bakehouse

MAKES 20 | PREP 1 HR | COOK 45 MINS | MORE EFFORT

VANILLA SPONGE

60g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for the tin

10 eggs

375g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

375g self-raising flour

85g cornflour

1½ tsp white wine vinegar

WHITE CHOCOLATE ICING 300g icing sugar, sifted 185ml whole milk

50ml buttermilk

500g white chocolate

WHIPPED WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE 100ml whipping cream

30g glucose

115g white chocolate

80g unsalted butter, softened and cubed 250g desiccated coconut

227g jar of good-quality cherry jam

2 tsp yuzu festive sprinkles or freeze-dried berries, crushed, to decorate

1 Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Butter and line the base of a 25cm x 25cm, 7cm-deep baking tin. Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on a medium speed for 6-8 mins or until thick. Sift together the flour, cornflour and ½ tsp of salt. Gently fold into the wet mixture, followed by the melted butter, vinegar and 200ml of just-boiled water. Pour into the tray and bake for 30-35 mins or until golden and springy to the touch.

2 Make the icing by warming the sugar, milk and buttermilk in a medium pan over a low heat, occasionally stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Using a sugar thermometer, cool to 40C. Put the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Using the sugar thermometer, melt to 40C, then gradually mix into the buttermilk with a whisk until well emulsified.

3 To make the ganache, bring the cream and glucose just to the boil in a small pan. Put the chocolate in a bowl and pour over the cream. Using a hand blender, blend until completely emulsified. Gradually add the butter, again mixing until fully incorporated. Chill in the fridge until firm.

4 When you’re ready to assemble, trim any uneven edges from the sponge and carefully cut into 20 cubes. Use an apple corer to make a hole in the top of each cube, going three-quarters of the way down. Gently warm the white chocolate icing until liquid and dip in the sponge cubes, covering all sides, placing on a cooling rack for the excess to drip off. Dip the icing-covered sponges into the coconut to coat. Mix the cherry jam with the yuzu. Put a little of the jam into each hole in the lamingtons. Whip the ganache until it’s at piping consistency and pipe a little to cover each hole. Sprinkle over the festive sprinkles or crushed berries to decorate.

PER LAMINGTON 713 kcals | fat 34.9G saturates 20.1G | carbs 79.2G | sugars 60.5G fibre 3.4G | protein 18.7G | salt 0.8G