Lamingtons

1. Beat the eggs and sugar until light. Melt the butter and add to the sugar mixture. Beat well. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.

2. Stir in the milk and vanilla essence until the mixture is soft and drips from the spoon. Pour the batter into a large square cake tin and bake in a hot oven at 200°C for 15 minutes.

3. When cold, cut into fingers or small squares.

4. To make the icing, mix the icing sugar, cocoa and butter. Add enough water to form a thin sauce. Dip the squares into the icing and roll in the coconut.

Cook's note: I still treasure all the recipes that were so meticulously collected by my mom and aunts. Some written on pieces of paper and on the covers of old recipe books; others are newspaper clippings, all dating back many moons. The most special and favourite one is Naughty Boys, the strangest of names. We grew up with this name and I only discovered later in my adult life that they are actually called Lamingtons! This has been our special treat on Sundays during lockdown and before I can say tea, my daughter who is spending lockdown with us, shouts, “Are the Naughty Boys ready?"

The Lockdown Recipe Storytelling Book is published by Annake Müller Publishing. Royalties from sales of the book go to the Ubuntu Feeding Scheme. It’s available for R450 (excluding courier costs) by contacting cairistine@gmail.com.