Nanaimo Bars

I read about these bars on another food blog, and since they are a traditional Canadian treat, we thought we'd celebrate our obsession with the Vancouver Olympics by eating these for our Family Home Evening treat last night. The story is that a lady in the city of Nanaimo submitted the recipe for her no-bake bars to a city cookbook contest and won. No wonder, they are seriously awesome! The bars were eventually named after the city (which is on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada).

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer:

½ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup sugar

5 tbsp. cocoa

1 egg, beaten

1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs

½ c. finely chopped almonds

1 cup coconut
Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer:

½ cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream (I used milk successfully)

2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder (or vanilla pudding mix)

2 cups powdered sugar
Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer:

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.