Learning Project/Kade’s Kitchen: We Built This City…. On Nanaimo Bars!

I am making a classic Canadian dessert for Kade’s Kitchen to impress faint-hearted sweet lovers. I have memories of it during family gatherings and reunions. My grandma would always make them and put them next to Butter Tarts on a tray for everyone to devour. Without further ado, say hello to Nanaimo Bars. They are a three-layered no-bake dessert bar with a mixed chocolate walnut coconut bottom base, a heavenly to-die-for custard filling, and a silk semi-rich dark chocolate that helps mediate the delightful adventure.

Nanaimo Bars were first officially created as chocolate squares in the 1952 edition of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Nanaimo Hospital Cookbook. Although it might have been made during the city’s early coal mining settling days, this is problematic with similar baking treats named the New York Slice and Prayer Bar. Hopefully, you enjoyed that sweet slice of history (hahaha, pun not intended)! What is your favourite no-bake dessert?

I used the recipe from TikTok Milkshake connoisseur Spirit Alchemist, who has 6.8 million followers on the platform. His real name is Larry Canam, and he is a 71-year-old X-Military member from Fredericton, New Brunswick. The short video is precise, like a well-crafted recipe from a cookbook, and the steps are to the point. Larry makes it easy and informative for new bakers. The presentation and home-style editing help create a legendary video that will make anyone crave Nanaimo Bars. It made me want to check out the rest of his videos, which are wholesome food videos for responsible desert drink lovers. For more, outside of the World Wide Web, look no further than this unique Milkshake Monday cookbook on Amazon and Indigo.

Here is the recipe video and one from Larry’s Milkshake Monday series. Get ready to read my reactionary tale on the road to fun, joy, and experimentation!

@thewhyteelephant

Heres a delicious no bake dessert recipe. The 3 layer Nanaimo Bar. #recipe #dessert #tutorial

♬ vlog, chill out, calm daily life(1370843) – SUNNY HOOD STUDIO

@thewhyteelephant

A delicious Nanaimo Bar #milkshake #milkshakemondays with music by @Lance Allen

♬ original sound – Lance Allen

The Ingredients: 

Bottom Layer

• ½ cup of Butter
• ¼ cup and 1 tablespoon of Cocoa
• ¼ cup of Yellow Sugar
• 1 beaten Egg
• ½ cup of Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1 cup of Flaked Coconut
• ½ cup of a Nut or Granola

Middle Layer

• ½ cup of Butter
• 3 tablespoons of Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons of Custard Powder
• 2 cups of Powered Sugar

Top Layer

• 1 Dark Chocolate Bar
• 2 teaspoons of Butter

I started the recipe by using a scary and new baking technique, the double broiler. I added softened Butter, cocoa powder, and brown sugar to the broiler, constantly mixing until melted. Then, I made sure the beaten egg would not turn into a scrambled, inedible mess by slowly tempering the completed mixture. The DB is an exciting technical process involving two pots and boiling water trapping steam, making indirect gentle heat. Next, in a medium-sized bowl, I added all the dry ingredients for this bottom layer, whipping them together to a refined shape and then putting them into the container.

I proceeded to the delectable custard layer using a hand mixture for a fluffy texture. Some advice: I would like my audience/classmates to get used to mixing because that is in a lot of baking, but boy, is it fun to taste in the end. Is it snowing in my house? No, it’s only the powdered sugar, and I followed Larry’s recipe to the tee for this part because no one wants to clean the residue clouds. After all this, I mixed again and patted the custard into my container. Leave the Nanaimo Bar mixture in the fridge for an hour to cool. This will always test my patience because I am consistently hungry.

We are close to finishing this recipe since it is time for the dark chocolate layer! I used my microwave to melt the rich dark chocolate bar butter mixture in fifteen-second increments. Remember to keep stirring until the consistency is thin and melted to perfection. I finally poured it over the custard layer by smoothing the chocolate over the dessert area. The Nanaimo Bars were finally completed after a quick ten-minute chill and an arm workout of slicing them into bar shape!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post; feel free to leave comments about new recipes for me to try or platforms to find some on! Next time, I will pair homemade soup with a lovely bun recipe. Here is a hilarious meme on Nanaimo Bars. As always, try to seek the adventurous side of learning!

Meme from patjames.com