When you’re living thousands of kilometres from home, it’s often the small things that pull hardest at the heart. The smell of a braai. The sound of a familiar accent in a foreign supermarket. And, for so many South African expats, the taste of ystervarkies with a cup of rooibos.
These little chocolate-and-coconut bites have been gracing South African tea tables for generations. School bake sales, church fêtes, birthday parties, those sneaky raids on the kitchen counter when Ma wasn’t looking—ystervarkies were there for all of it. So if you’re in Sydney, London, Auckland or Toronto and feeling a pang of homesickness, this is your sign to get baking.
Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about this beloved South African cake, plus a straightforward South African lamington recipe you can make with ingredients from any local shop. Let’s bring a slice of home back to your kitchen.
What are Ystervarkies?
Ystervarkies are the South African version of lamingtons. The name is Afrikaans for “little porcupine” (or “iron pig”, if you take it literally), and it describes exactly how the treats look once they’ve been rolled in desiccated coconut—soft, spiky little parcels that resemble a hedgehog or porcupine.
The concept is simple. You bake a light vanilla sponge, cut it into small squares, dip each one in a glossy chocolate sauce, then coat it generously in coconut. The result is a soft, sweet, chocolatey bite with just the right amount of crunch.
South African Ystervarkies vs. Australian Lamingtons
If you’ve spent time in Australia or New Zealand, you’ll have come across lamingtons there too. The two are close cousins, but there are a few key differences that South Africans abroad tend to notice straight away.
- Size: South African ystervarkies are usually much smaller, measuring only 3 to 4 cm per cube. Australian and New Zealand lamingtons are typically larger squares.
- Name: Only South Africans call them ystervarkies. Elsewhere, they’re simply lamingtons.
- The feeling: This one’s harder to measure, but ask any South African and they’ll tell you—ystervarkies just hit different.
For expats, this distinction matters. Spotting a lamington in a café down under is lovely, but it’s not quite the same as the proper, bite-sized ystervarkies you grew up with.
Easy Ystervarkies recipe
This recipe for Lamingtons South Africa style is forgiving and fun, even if baking isn’t usually your strong suit.
One tip before you start: bake the sponge a day ahead. Warm, oven-fresh cake crumbles too easily when you cut and dip it, so a cooled (even overnight) sponge gives the best results.
Makes roughly 16 to 25 ystervarkies.
Ingredients
For the vanilla sponge:
- 4 large eggs
- 200 g castor sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 200 g cake flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 100 g butter, melted
For the chocolate coating:
- 50 g butter, melted
- 180 ml milk
- 50 g cocoa powder, sifted
- 150 g icing (powdered) sugar, sifted
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 250 g unsweetened desiccated coconut (have extra on hand)
Method
Make the sponge:
- Preheat your oven to 170°C. Line a 23 cm x 23 cm baking tin with baking paper and a little cooking spray.
- Whisk the eggs, castor sugar and vanilla together until pale and bubbly.
- Sift in half the flour and gently fold it through. Sift in the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt, then fold again until just combined.
- Add the melted butter and fold through until smooth.
- Pour the batter into your tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Let the sponge cool completely—ideally overnight. Once cooled, trim the edges and cut into equal squares (aim for about 16, or smaller if you want the traditional bite-sized look).
Make the coating:
- Melt the butter in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk, then the cocoa powder until smooth.
- Add the icing sugar and salt, and whisk until fully combined and glossy.
Assemble your Ystervarkies:
- Dip each square into the chocolate mixture, using two forks to swirl it around. Let the sponge soak up the sauce—but not so much that it falls apart
- Tip half your coconut onto a plate. Let the excess chocolate drip off each square, then roll it in coconut, topping up the plate as you go.
- Place the finished ystervarkies on a wire rack to set and harden slightly.
A word of warning: this will get messy. Your fingers will end up covered in chocolate, and your kitchen may look like a coconut bomb went off. That’s all part of the fun.
Tips for making the best South African Lamingtons
A few small touches can take your South African Lamingtons from good to unforgettable:
- Use a cooled sponge. It’s worth repeating—a day-old cake cuts cleanly and holds together far better than a fresh one.
- Don’t oversoak. A quick dip is all you need. Leave the squares in the chocolate too long and they’ll turn to mush.
- Keep your coconut topped up. Wet coconut won’t stick well, so refresh the plate as you work through your batch.
- Make them small. For an authentic South African feel, cut your cubes to around 3 cm.
A sweet slice of South African cake
There’s something about ystervarkies that simply feels like home. Whatever the memory, these little treats have a way of closing the distance between where you are and where you’re from.
Through all of it, the comforts of home keep you grounded. So put the kettle on, roll up your sleeves, and treat yourself to a batch of homemade ystervarkies. Then go ahead and share them—nothing starts a conversation about home quite like a plate of proper South African lamingtons.
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