Saturday, February 5, 2011

EATING OUT IN PUNE - LAMINGTON

LAMINGTON
Melt in the Mouth Delicious Dessert 
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Mouthwatering Pune Memories

When I lived near Aundh, in the evenings I often used go for a walk on Aundh Road from Bremen Chowk towards the railway line at Khadki. It is one of the best places to walk in Pune, wide roads with plenty of greenery and foliage on both sides.  

Of course, Wakad, where I live now, is a foodies' nightmare, but then Aundh is far away but not that far far away. So maybe once in a while on my way to Pune I can still relish a delicious Lamington and indulge  my epicurean gourmand desires.


So let’s get back to my delicious mouthwatering memories of those glorious foodwalks around Aundh.

On my way back to my erstwhile home near the banks of the Mula River, I would treat myself with a Lamington at the Spicer College Bakery Shop.  

Let me close my eyes, transport myself to the glorious past, stop at Spicer College Bakery on my evening walk, buy a lamington and delicately place the soft delicacy between my lips, press and squeeze a piece of the wonderful stuff on my tongue, focus inwards, enhance the sensitivity of my gustatory senses in order to enhance the experience of supreme bliss as the Lamington melts in my mouth and the chocolatty-coconutty luscious syrupy sweetness permeates into me.
 
A Lamington is a delicious cube of sponge cake, dipped in melted chocolate and sugar and coated in desiccated coconut. 

The Lamington probably originated in Australia around 1898 in what later became the state of Queensland. 

Whilst the origin of the name for the Lamington cannot be accurately established, there are several theories.
 
Lamingtons are most likely named after Charles Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, who served as Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. 

However, the precise reasoning behind this is not known, and stories vary. 

According to one account, the dessert resembled the homburg hats favoured by Lord Lamington.  

Another apocryphal tale tells of a banquet in Cloncurry during which the governor accidentally dropped a block of sponge cake into a dish of gravy, and then threw it over his shoulder, causing it to land in a bowl of desiccated coconut or peanut butter. 

A diner who enjoyed eating this dunked piece of cake, thought of replacing the gravy with chocolate and thus created the lamington as we know it today.

Ironically, Lord Lamington was known to have hated the dessert that had been named in his honour, once referring to them as "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".  

Another theory is that they were named after Lady Lamington, the wife of the Governor.
 
The Spicer College Bakery Lamington is my favourite – and enjoying Lamingtons and and other yummy delights here is quite easy on the pocket.

The chocolate icing keeps the cake moist.

The desiccated coconut protects it from drying out in the hot climate. And it’s quite a juicy generous lip-smacking treat…!
 
The Spicer College Bakery in Pune serves a variety of healthy goodies like carrot cake, nut cake, doughnuts, samosas, soy patties, soya milk; but, for me, it’s always my all time favourite, the inimitable yummy succulent Lamington…! 

Tell me, Dear Fellow Foodies, have you tasted a Lamington, in Pune or elsewhere?


Dear Reader and Fellow Foodie: For more such appetizing dishes do read APPETITE FOR A STROLL, a treatise on The Art of Eating, Easy to Cook Recipes and Foodie Adventures in Pune and Mumbai.

Click the links below to know more about this delicious book:

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o


Happy Eating

VIKRAM KARVE


© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU, Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop's School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. His delicious foodie blogs have been compiled in a book "Appetite for a Stroll". Vikram lives in Pune with his family and pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.


Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve – http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile of Vikram Karve - http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve 
Creative Writing by Vikram Karve: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email:   vikramkarve@sify.com

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

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