“I think lamingtons are super cool.”

For a chef who started his training at the Savoy in London, went on to work in the best hotel kitchens across England and France, and has Vue de monde and Guillaume at Bennelong on his CV, that’s a fairly bold statement.

But Darren Purchese is nothing if not bold. The acclaimed chef, whose Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio in South Yarra is Melbourne’s epicentre of the coolest cake creations, is famed for using that classic training to transform the ordinary into extraordinary. And his glamington is no different.  “The glamington is a lamington out on a Saturday night,” Purchese says of the Malibu-soaked white chocolate sponge that’s coated in coconut and dusted in gold lustre. “It’s taking the lamington to the next level.”

The confection is one of the more elaborate recipes in his new cookbook, Lamingtons & Lemon Tart, which the UK-born chef says acknowledges his past and present. The rest of the book is made up of easily accessible and replicable sweets.

“My first book was quite cheffy, with lots of equipment and special ingredients. People would come in and say, ‘That’s great Darren, but how can I make a lemon tart? How can I make a great brownie?’ So the really important thing for me was to create a cookbook that people actually use,” he says. “You know what chefs are like, they all want to do their own thing. I’m listening to my customers now. I’m happy and content cooking stuff they want rather than cooking for my ego.”

As if to prove that point, Purchese has included the recipe for his famous salted caramel – that he sells upwards of 80L a week – in the book, along with the best-ever brittles, biscuits and brioche and his genius fizzy grapes.

As for “super cool” lamingtons, Purchese is a man of his word. “My wife Cath introduced me to the frozen lamington, eaten with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Because of the sugar content, the jam doesn’t set hard. They’re really great!”

Lamingtons & Lemon Tart by Darren Purchese (Hardie Grant), available from October 1.