Tracing one warm line (through your mouth) (it's chocolate) (the warm line is chocolate)
'Tis the long-since-promised Nanaimo Bars recipe! I really should be working on my history paper, but I said I'd do this over a week ago, so here I am.
-1 (2 lb) package of butter
-1 package of graham crackers (I suggest you get name brand, because I guesstimate amounts based off of the prepackaged sets of crackers that come in name brand boxes. Or you could message me, and I could figure out the amount in grams, I guess. But I'm lazy, so try for name brand first.)
-Hershey's special dark cocoa powder
-Bird's custard powder/instant vanilla pudding powder
-nuts
-coconut
-sweetener of choice (I use a combination of agave and maple syrup, as you will see below)
-cream
-powdered sugar
-1 egg
-vanilla
-bar of chocolate (around 8 ounces, though I've used 6.75 oz bars to great success)
You'll also need an 11x7 pan, and either a lid for it or some tin foil.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 packages graham crackers, crushed
coarsely chopped walnuts or almonds to taste
coconut to taste
2 sticks butter
6 TBS dark cocoa powder
1/6 cup agave
maple syrup to taste (I recommend a little more than 1 tsp)
1 large egg
opt: 1 tsp vanilla
Grease an 11x7 pan and put in crushed graham crackers, nuts, and coconut. Put aside. Melt butter in saucepan on medium, then stir in agave, maple syrup, cocoa powder, and vanilla if using. Turn temperature down to medium low and beat in egg. When begins to clump, the egg is cooked; remove from heat. Mix into graham cracker mixture. Once all the graham crackers are damp and dark from the chocolate, press down evenly with fingertips. Put in fridge for about one hour.
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
3 TBS vanilla custard/pudding mix
2 TBS + 2 tsp cream
2 cups powdered sugar
opt: 1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix together as if frosting. You should be able to knead the mixture, but not without getting your hands all sticky. Spread over bottom layer and place pan back in fridge for about one hour.
Ingredients:
~8oz. chocolate
2 TBS butter
Melt chocolate and butter in saucepan (you're essentially tempering the chocolate here, but no one'll care if it doesn't turn out shiny, so don't bother trying to figure it out if you don't know how). Spread evenly over middle layer and refrigerate for another hour. Serve. Will keep for approximately the lifespan of a Galapagos tortoise if frozen.
This is my own recipe, modified based on my likes and dislikes, and based on the ingredients I tend to have on hand. I'm not incredibly fond of the straight sweetness of sugar, and often find versions of this dessert made purely with sugar to be too sweet, so I substitute in agave and maple syrup--I use the maple syrup sparingly, though, because I run into the same too-sweet problem with artificial syrups so I only use the real stuff, which just so happens to be ridiculously expensive. Luckily, a little goes a long way. I also frequently am serving people who particularly enjoy the middle layer (they claim it tastes like cheesecake); in those cases, I'll do a 1 and 1/2 times the recipe for the middle layer and leave the rest as-is. I also rarely use coconut, because I don't like coconut.
Also, it should be noted that, while in most recipes you can get away with substituting margarine for butter, this is definitively not one of those. You can get away with using margarine in the bottom layer and even the top if you're careful (though I advise against it; the "melt in your mouth" quality of the top layer is due to the relatively low melting point of butter), but you absolutely cannot use margarine the middle layer. Seriously, the point of this dessert boils down to three things, and three things only: vanilla, chocolate, and butter. If you can't taste the butter in the middle layer... well, let's just say you'll be wondering why I recommended this recipe at all.
Anyways, yes, Nanaimo Bars are a wonderful (and extremely rich) Canadian dessert, which I actually found out about while reading a due South fic--oh, the places fandom will take you! Of course I had to run out and try to make them, and, being me, of course I couldn't just leave well enough alone when my first attempt was a flop. Good thing, too, because now they're a standby for when I need a dessert that I can prepare between classes and that crazy thing known as "life"--and every time I eat them I can't help but think of Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP, homesick for sweeping landscapes and bitter cold. (I identify heavily with Fraser, in case you couldn't tell.)
This post would definitely have a dS icon if I had one/had time to make one, but I suppose the title will have to do.
Edit: I edited this for multiple reasons, not least of which is so I can have the icon mentioned in the Notes section above.
-1 (2 lb) package of butter
-1 package of graham crackers (I suggest you get name brand, because I guesstimate amounts based off of the prepackaged sets of crackers that come in name brand boxes. Or you could message me, and I could figure out the amount in grams, I guess. But I'm lazy, so try for name brand first.)
-Hershey's special dark cocoa powder
-Bird's custard powder/instant vanilla pudding powder
-nuts
-coconut
-sweetener of choice (I use a combination of agave and maple syrup, as you will see below)
-cream
-powdered sugar
-1 egg
-vanilla
-bar of chocolate (around 8 ounces, though I've used 6.75 oz bars to great success)
You'll also need an 11x7 pan, and either a lid for it or some tin foil.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 packages graham crackers, crushed
coarsely chopped walnuts or almonds to taste
coconut to taste
2 sticks butter
6 TBS dark cocoa powder
1/6 cup agave
maple syrup to taste (I recommend a little more than 1 tsp)
1 large egg
opt: 1 tsp vanilla
Grease an 11x7 pan and put in crushed graham crackers, nuts, and coconut. Put aside. Melt butter in saucepan on medium, then stir in agave, maple syrup, cocoa powder, and vanilla if using. Turn temperature down to medium low and beat in egg. When begins to clump, the egg is cooked; remove from heat. Mix into graham cracker mixture. Once all the graham crackers are damp and dark from the chocolate, press down evenly with fingertips. Put in fridge for about one hour.
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
3 TBS vanilla custard/pudding mix
2 TBS + 2 tsp cream
2 cups powdered sugar
opt: 1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix together as if frosting. You should be able to knead the mixture, but not without getting your hands all sticky. Spread over bottom layer and place pan back in fridge for about one hour.
Ingredients:
~8oz. chocolate
2 TBS butter
Melt chocolate and butter in saucepan (you're essentially tempering the chocolate here, but no one'll care if it doesn't turn out shiny, so don't bother trying to figure it out if you don't know how). Spread evenly over middle layer and refrigerate for another hour. Serve. Will keep for approximately the lifespan of a Galapagos tortoise if frozen.
This is my own recipe, modified based on my likes and dislikes, and based on the ingredients I tend to have on hand. I'm not incredibly fond of the straight sweetness of sugar, and often find versions of this dessert made purely with sugar to be too sweet, so I substitute in agave and maple syrup--I use the maple syrup sparingly, though, because I run into the same too-sweet problem with artificial syrups so I only use the real stuff, which just so happens to be ridiculously expensive. Luckily, a little goes a long way. I also frequently am serving people who particularly enjoy the middle layer (they claim it tastes like cheesecake); in those cases, I'll do a 1 and 1/2 times the recipe for the middle layer and leave the rest as-is. I also rarely use coconut, because I don't like coconut.
Also, it should be noted that, while in most recipes you can get away with substituting margarine for butter, this is definitively not one of those. You can get away with using margarine in the bottom layer and even the top if you're careful (though I advise against it; the "melt in your mouth" quality of the top layer is due to the relatively low melting point of butter), but you absolutely cannot use margarine the middle layer. Seriously, the point of this dessert boils down to three things, and three things only: vanilla, chocolate, and butter. If you can't taste the butter in the middle layer... well, let's just say you'll be wondering why I recommended this recipe at all.
Anyways, yes, Nanaimo Bars are a wonderful (and extremely rich) Canadian dessert, which I actually found out about while reading a due South fic--oh, the places fandom will take you! Of course I had to run out and try to make them, and, being me, of course I couldn't just leave well enough alone when my first attempt was a flop. Good thing, too, because now they're a standby for when I need a dessert that I can prepare between classes and that crazy thing known as "life"--and every time I eat them I can't help but think of Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP, homesick for sweeping landscapes and bitter cold. (I identify heavily with Fraser, in case you couldn't tell.)
This post would definitely have a dS icon if I had one/had time to make one, but I suppose the title will have to do.
Edit: I edited this for multiple reasons, not least of which is so I can have the icon mentioned in the Notes section above.