Nanaimo Creations

 Have you ever heard of Nanaimo Bars? My understanding was that they had something to do with coconut, so imagine my surprise when I learned that our grandson's favorite dessert was Nanaimo Bars. I didn't think anyone in our family cared for coconut! However, the coconut is finely chopped into the crust and so is not really noticeable, and after making these as part of a school report on Canada, Sam decided they were his new favorite dessert.

It turns out these bars, which I thought were a cookie, are really more of a candy, and I wanted a more traditional dessert for our family dinner. So, I turned the idea of Nanaimo Bars into a cake. (Inspiration websites here and here and here. Note that instant vanilla pudding takes the place of Canadian custard powder quite nicely.) I made our favorite chocolate cake, baking it in three 8" round pans. I did use the custard mixture as a filling, but instead of making the crumb mixture a crust, I used a variation of it for an additional layer, with the finishing touch being some chocolate ganache. It was a hit with everyone, including the birthday boy. Now you can try it yourself if you'd like.

Feathery Fudge Cake

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 3/4 cups sugar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 cups flour 
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 1/4 cups cold water

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Combine dry ingredients and mix in with water. Pour into three greased and floured 8" cake pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pans. 

Nanaimo Cake Filling

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding (dry mix)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2-4 tablespoons cream or milk

Beat ingredients together until smooth. (Basically, just make your favorite vanilla frosting, and stir in some pudding mix, or custard powder if you want to be truly authentic.)

Nanaimo Crumb Mixture

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Combine ingredients in a food processor until finely chopped. (To make the crust for actual Nanaimo bars, double this, add an egg, then press into an 8x8" pan and bake for a few minutes. Top with the filling mixture, then spread with chocolate and chill before cutting into bars.)

Chocolate Ganache - Melt 1/3 cup cream and 2/3 cup chocolate chips together, stirring until smooth.

To assemble, place a cake layer on a plate and top with some of the filling mixture. Sprinkle on some crumbs, then repeat. Place the third layer on top. Thin the remaining filling with some milk and frost the entire cake with a thin layer. Alternatively, you could frost with a thicker layer, but then you might need more frosting. Top with the ganache, letting it drip over the sides, and sprinkle with more crumbs.

When cutting the cake, each layer fell apart between the crumbs and cake. That might be prevented in the future by drizzling some ganache over the crumbs before placing the next cake layer on top. We'll have to try this again sometime!

You know we can't let things go to waste. The leftover ingredients made the perfect topping for some brownies!