Recipe - Nanaimo Bars -2

BOTTOM LAYER
One half cup Butter
One fourth cup Sugar; granulated
1/3 cup Cocoa powder; unsweetened
1 Egg; beaten
1 Three fourths cup Graham wafer cracker crumbs
One half cup Nuts; finely chopped
1 cup Coconut; shredded

MIDDLE LAYER
One half cup Butter
3 tablespoon Light cream
2 tablespoon Custard powder; *
2 cup Icing Sugar

TOP LAYER
4 ounce Semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoon Butter

* Anne's note: Custard powder can be found in the baking section of
Canadian supermarkets. I have seen the substitution of instant vanilla
pudding or instant vanilla pudding powder in American cookbooks.

"Recipes for this nobake treasure appear in countless cookbook as
Chocolate Fridge Cake, New York Slice, Miracle Bars, Ribbon Squares and
many other names. But the origin of Nanaimo Bars is still a hot topic of
debate. The Woman's Auxiliary to the Nanaimo Hospital Cook Book (1952)
included three similar recipes (two called Chocolate Squares and one
Chocolate Slice). These recipes appeared under the name Nanaimo Bars in the
Vancouver Sun in the early 50's and in the B.C. Women's Institute
Centennial of B.C. Cookbook in 1958. The test kitchens of food companies
developed various versions with their own products. Since the 50s, endless
variations include Minted, Grand Marnier, Cherry, Pina Colada, Mocha, and
Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars...During the 50s, a Dairy Food Service Bureau
recipe called Dominoes suggested piping a little bit of the middle layer
into dots on top to give a domino pattern when cut." Bottom Layer: In
double boiler, melt butter, sugar and cocoa; add egg and cook until
thickened. Add crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press into ungreased 9 inch square
pan. Middle Layer: Beat together butter, cream, custard powder and sugar;
spread over base. Chill. Top Layer: Melt chocolate with butter; cool
slightly. Pour over second layer; chill. Cut into bars.

SOURCE: The Fifties chapter in _A Century of Canadian Home Cooking_ by
Carol Ferguson and Margaret Fraser
Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #801 by Nancy Berry nlberry@prodigy.net on
Sep 24, 1997