Keep your hubby happy,
Keep your happy hubby,
When he’s a little chubby,
He’s a happy pappy! - The Flintstones
Greg never asks very much of me. He’s a great guy and my very best friend in the whole world, so when I asked him if he wanted a cake for his birthday this week, I couldn’t turn him down when he asked for a pan of mint Nanaimo bars instead. That’s not to say I didn’t want to. Nanaimo bars are probably my least favourite treat to eat, and especially to make. If given an option, such as at a party or gathering where there is a great selection, I will bypass the Nanaimo bars every time. I’ll take one and eat it if it’s the only thing on offer, especially if not doing so would seem rude, but like tiramisu, it’s not one of those things I’d ever eat willingly. And perhaps because I’ve never really cared for the overly sweet treat, I seem to have a really hard time making the things and having them turn out right. As the above below will attest.
I don’t think it’s all me - there are very obvious flaws to the recipe, and I have a secret (quite possibly paranoid) theory that the commonly circulated recipe is a dud and that successful nanaimo bar makers use another recipe altogether, like a secret cabal well aware that the rest of us are flailing.
In any case, my very sweet husband insists that they still taste good, and that, I guess, is what counts. My notes on the recipe flaws appear in italics.
Mint Nanaimo Bars Why are things cut in squares called “bars”??
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 Tbsp cocoa
1 egg, beaten
1-3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup coconut
1/3 cup margarine
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp peppermint flavouring
2 cups incing sugar
green food colouring
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
Bottom Layer: Combine first amount of butter, first amount of sugar and cocoa to saucepan. Bring slowly to a boil. Stir in egg to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in graham crumbs, coconut and walnuts. Pack very firmly into a greased 9×9″ pan. (Do NOT, I repeat, NOT, dump a beaten egg into a pot of boiling liquid. Unless you like scrambled eggs in your pastry. Instead, beat the egg in a small bowl and then add a tablespoon or two of the cocoa mixture to the egg and whisk well, then add the egg mixture into the chocolate mix and stir. Also, once this mixture is in the pan, chill it for about half an hour before making the middle layer - this will prevent the bottom layer from blending with the frosting and making it all lumpy.)
Middle Layer: Combine second amount of butter, milk, flavouring and icing sugar in a bowl. Beat together well. Tint a pretty shade of green. Spread over first layer. (Regular Nanaimo bars call for the same amounts of milk, butter and sugar, but omit the [liquid] colouring and flavouring, and have the addition of 2 Tbsp. of vanilla custard powder. This means that the mint filling is considerably softer than the regular. To prevent this, add an additional 1/4 cup of icing sugar, otherwise this layer may never firm up and will squish and ooze when the squares are cut. And as with the first layer, chill this before you add the top layer or the mint layer will melt and blend with the chocolate topping.)
Top layer: Melt chips and third amount of butter in a saucepan over low heat. Spread over second layer. Chill and store in refrigerator. (This amount of chocolate IN NO WAY makes enough to properly cover a 9″ square pan. It creates a thin, miserly little layer that doesn’t look anything at all like the amount there should be based on the accompanying photographs. I’d go for a cup of chocolate, possibly double the original amount. Also - let the chocolate firm up at room temperature and cut as soon as it’s firm. If you chill this first, and then try to cut it, the chocolate will get hard and crack and you’ll have an ugly ol’ mess like I did.)
There, ugly mint nanaimo bars. Let’s hope Greggie loves these as much as he claims to - he’s got a whole pan of the things to eat by himself.
Recipe from Company’s Coming by Jean Pare.
