If you’re reading this in the northern hemisphere the title of this post may seem nonsensical. Australia readers [and maybe New Zealanders] will get it: this cake pays homage to a biscuit that many of us grew up with. Made by Arnotts it is plain vanilla bickie with puffy pink marshmallow topping and a river of raspberry jam down the centre. The whole creation is then sprinkled with desiccated coconut. Sickly? A bit. To children of a certain generation they were the ultimate in lunchbox treats.
With Australia Day looming Miss8 and I decided to do a riff on this old fav, using cake instead of cookie, as the base.
We used ‘Stay at Home Mum’s’ recipe which you can see here http://www.stayathomemum.com.au/recipes/iced-vo-vo-cake/ She in turn found the recipe via Raspberri Cupcakes – check out her stunning blog here http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/
Miss8 and I reduced the sugar and omitted the salt but aside from that we found the recipe a cinch to work from & it produced lovely results.
So if you feel the need to do some patriotic baking this long weekend may I suggest this very sweet and very pretty little number?
GATHER:
150g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
¾ cup caster sugar
2/3 cup milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
For decoration:
125g unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sifted icing sugar
Pink food colouring
1 1/2 cups marshmallows
1/2 cup raspberry or strawberry jam, whisked until smooth
1/2 cup desiccated coconut [we used shredded]
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 150C and grease and line a brownie pan 17cm x28cm.
Place all cake ingredients into bowl of electric mixer and mix on low until combined, then increase speed and beat until combined and a nice consistency.
Scrape into lied tin and bake for roughly 35 minutes / until cooked.
Allow to cool completely before icing [we put cake in fridge to speed up the process].
To make decoration: beat extra butter and icing sugar until combined in electric mixer – you’ll probably need to stop and scrape down the sides to ensure it is mixed thoroughly.
Add a few drops of the pink food colouring to achieve a light pastel pink.
Heat marshmallows in microwave for 30 seconds on medium heat until they are melted. Working quickly add to the bowl with the pink icing and mix until thoroughly combined.
Leave a wide strip in the centre of the cake then apply the pink icing on either side of the strip.
Fill in the strip with the whisked jam.
Sprinkle the whole cake with the coconut.
the hungry mum 
Absolutely LOVE it! Such a clever idea and oh so patriotic! 🙂 Happy Australia Day to you and your family! 🐨
why, thank you 🙂 Glad you liked my little play on a family fav 🙂
So quintessentially Australian. It looks just as decadent as my Chocolate Tim Tam Cake post. Have a wonderful Australia Day.
Am one of those “northern hemisphere” folks, so definitely learning here! But you totally had me at “puffy pink marshmallow” 😀 Though I’m coming up with all sorts of crazy when googling “bickie.” Ecstasy pills? Large sum of money? Something else I’m not going to say because I don’t talk that way. (heehee) Though I’m going with the Wiktionary definition of “biscuit.” lol, like I said–learning. Your dessert looks amazing and lovely and happy holiday to you!
This sounds similar to something kids in the USA have loved for generations – Hostess Sno Balls. From a Googled site: “Hostess Sno Balls only come in packs of two fluffy pink balls that kinda make me think of ear muffs but they’re actually coconut and marshmallow covered chocolate cakes with a creamy filling”. They also had a raspberry flavor but were chocolate cakes. I’d like your version better.
Lillian
I don’t know why I am only just seeing your comment now Lillian, but thank you 🙂
I’m from the Northern Hemisphere and have never heard of this, but it looks intriguing! Must be fun to eat. As a kid, I loved marshmallows, so I’m sure I would have eaten this up. I would probably eat it now, too 🙂
As a kid you’d always hope that there’d be an iced vo vo waiting for you in the bickie tin 🙂 I love marshmallows too – the whites one are my fav.
That looks great! Yum!
Thanks! Very sweet so it is a once-a-year treat 🙂
Love the biscuit so a cake of Iced Vovo would be awesome!
Are those bickies the best?! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog 🙂
I love a VoVO, B!! This looks way better than the store bought ones which no longer hold their lustre for me.
Ta! Shop bickies are great when you’re little but I think they taste very blah to adult tastebuds.
I love your variation on the biscuit of your youth – the cake sounds delicious! Happy early Australia Day to you!
Sweet nostalgia! Where would bakers be without it?! Thanks for your lovely words x
That is a great dessert to make for Australia Day my friend 😀
Delicious!
Cheers
CCU
why thank you, CCU! Hope your long weekend is
relaxing x
oh wow! a massive more scrumptious version of the iced vovo!
it is extremely large – one slice of this cake would equal about 20 of the bickies 🙂
Lovely recipe, and it looks so delicious! Happy Australia Day! 🙂
thanks! is pretty yummy 🙂
Yum… just YUM. 🙂
hehehe! Is pretty delish 🙂
how interesting! entirely new recipe to me. Happy Australia Day!
yep – it is quite Australian & very sweet! If sugar is your thing you’ll love it 🙂
Hope you had a good Australia day weekend!
Thanks! We did – went to a fancy Australia Day reception last night & got a fab view of fireworks over the beach 🙂
Great fun! No, I didn’t know the Vo Vo biscuit before. Though it reminded *me* of a Volvo repair shop near my sister’s home that couldn’t spell its own main source of business on its sign! Haha! However, this cake looks and sounds much more enticing than the biscuit itself, so I hope it was fully appreciated by all. 😀
xo
PS—Happy Australia Day!
haha! Volvos – arrgh! We had Volvos growing up – very unfond memories there 🙂 The cake & biscuit is MUCH better than a Volvo!
Oh yum! Looks amazing.
There was nary a crumb left a day after the bake 🙂
Oh my god that looks absolutely sinful. I don’t think I will be able to move an inch after eating that.
yep, this isn’t what you’d call health food 🙂
I have to agree 🙂
now this is very aussie! hope you had a great australia day x
Iced Vo Vos should be on the Aussie flag! Thanks – we had a great day, hope you did too x
I have never seen a Vo Vo on my travels but now will be keeping a look out as it looks like something the sugar junkie in me would just love!
Oh yes – you *need* an Iced Vo Vo if you’re a sugar fiend! Or just make this cake 🙂
We have these in the Northern Hemisphere, well in Ireland at least, they are called Mikado, (http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/biscuits/previous.php3?item=49) they were an essential tea time item in my house!
I’ll definitely try that cake when my family come over here to France to visit! 🙂
Yep, not a word of that blog title made sense to me, and I’m STILL loving it. I’ll have to make it sometime, if only for the wow factor of introducing it as an iced vo vo cake 😉 lovely recipe!
Go on – dare you to make it & introduce it to your guests as ‘an iced vo vo’ cake 🙂
I leanred something new! This special looking cake looks fantastic too! Yummmmm!
I just saw your message Sophie! Thanks 🙂
Happy Belated Aussie Day!
Thanks 😉
Iced Vo-Vo’s are the best. Making a cake of the similar ingredients, genius!
They are such a staple of Aussie childhood! Thanks – I thought a cake version would be more fun than more bickes 🙂
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try and make it 🙂
It is amazing and so Aussie! Hope you like it 🙂