Ystervarkies (Lamingtons)
Ystervarkies
Ystervarkies were the kind of treat that made school bake sales feel like treasure hunts. The sponge was always cut into slightly uneven squares, each one soft enough to leave a faint imprint if you held it too tightly. As a child, the real excitement came when the pieces were dipped — first into warm chocolate syrup that dripped down your fingers no matter how careful you were, then into a bowl of coconut that clung to every side like snowflakes.
There was something wonderfully messy about the whole process. The syrup soaked into the sponge just enough to make it tender, while the coconut gave it that familiar crunch when you bit in. They were small enough to disappear in a few bites, but sweet enough to make you feel like you'd snuck something special. Whether packed into a lunchbox or piled high on a plate at a school fundraiser, Ystervarkies always tasted like childhood — simple, sticky, and impossible to eat neatly.
Ingredients
- Sponge:
- 375 ml white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 250 ml milk
- 75 ml oil
- 25 g flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 300 g desiccated coconut
- Chocolate syrup:
- 875 ml white sugar
- 450 ml water
- 50 g butter
- 5 tbsp cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease large baking tray(s).
- Beat the sugar, vanilla and eggs until light and thick.
- Heat the milk and oil together.
- Gradually pour the hot milk and oil into the egg mixture while whisking continuously.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Alternate mixing the liquid with the dry ingredients and continue to whisk until combined.
- Pour into the pan and bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool completely, then cut into squares.
- For the syrup:
- Heat the sugar, water, butter and cocoa together. Simmer, then remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Quickly dip the squares into the hot syrup and roll them in the desiccated coconut. Store in a sealed container.