God Save The Queen: Baker Is Donating Australian Lamington Cakes To UK Hospital Workers

Unless you're hanging out Down Under, you don't hear a lot about lamingtons, the national cake of Australia. And that's a shame, because they look frankly outstanding. A classic lamington involves a square of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce, then rolled in coconut. Sounds like just the think to brighten one's spirits mid-pandemic, no?

That's the idea behind London-based Radio Lamington, a baking operation that launched last April in an effort to support the city's National Health Service (NHS) frontliners. For every box of lamington sold, Radio Lamington donates a box to NHS workers.

According to The Guardian, Radio Lamington is the brainchild of Prue Freeman, the Australian co-founder of the Daisy Green restaurant group. Freeman moved to the UK in 2010, and now she and her husband have 12 Australian-inspired cafes and restaurants across central London. Unfortunately, when London's first lockdown hit, the couple had to get creative. In April of last year, they started baking for Britain's #FeedtheNHS campaign. And, since at least a quarter of London Ambulance Service paramedics are Australians or New Zealanders, Freeman opted to bake a taste of home.

Thus began the "A Lamington for a Lamington" campaign. Freeman churns out classic lamingtons alongside more adventurous varieties like pecan pie, tiramisu, and even rainbow lamingtons. The Guardian reports that Radio Lamington also offers a Golden Gaytime-inspired lamington, which tastes like the classic Australian ice cream featuring vanilla sponge, toffee filling, and malt biscuit. As of December, Radio Lamington had delivered more than 40,000 lamingtons to hospitals around London. Unfortunately, the bakery doesn't deliver to the U.S., but it does deliver to England, Wales, and Lowland Scotland—so if you live in one of those areas, you really can have your cake and eat it, too.