Make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.  Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan.  Lay it on the bottom and grease the paper.  Set aside.

Sift together the all-purpose and cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer set on medium speed, cream the sugar and vegetable oil together until light and fluffy.

Pour in the vegetable oil, vanilla, and almond extracts.

Increase the mixer speed to high and beat well for about 5 minutes.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.  Begin and end with the dry ingredients.  Don’t overmix the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan set on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, cut a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap around the cake.  Lay the plastic wrap on a flat surface.

When the cake is completely cool, run a knife around the edges of the pan and invert the cake onto the plastic wrap and wrap it around the cake.

Carefully place the cake into the freezer and freeze until frozen – about 4 hours or overnight.

When frozen, cut the cake into 24 squares.  Return the squares to the freezer until frozen solid – about 1 hour.

Make the coating:

In a large saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, espresso powder, hot water, and butter.

Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.  Cook, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes until you have a smooth, thin syrupy mixture.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Cool completely.

Dump the coconut onto a flat plate next to the saucepan of chocolate syrup.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove half of the cake squares from the freezer.

Working quickly, dip the frozen cake squares into the chocolate syrup.  Just dip all sides into the syrup, but don’t allow it to sit and soak up too much of the syrup or your cake will disintegrate.

Next, roll the soaked cake into the coconut and place it on the prepared baking sheet to dry.

Store the Lamingtons in a single layer in a container with a tight-fitting lid.