Baking Canadian Treats

One thing that I haven't blogged about since getting to Vancouver is the food. On a student budget, we don't eat out often and in many ways what we eat hasn't really changed. I knew that I wanted to try some traditional Canadian food before we finish our year abroad. I got together with a couple of friends to bake some traditional Canadian treats. We chose to make 'Nanaimo Bars' and 'Butter Tarts'. My Handsome Man and I chose to deal with the consequences of eating ingredients that don't agree with us so we were able to taste these traditional treats.

Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo bars have, in the past, been voted as Canadian's favourite confection. They are incredibly popular in Canada. The dessert doesn't require baking and consists of three layers, the bottom layer is a coconut and biscuit base, the middle layer is a custard filling and it is topped off with chocolate.

Ingredients

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup granulated sugar

5 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg, beaten

1 3/4 cups graham wafer crumbs

1 cup fine coconut

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Middle Layer:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

3 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons custard powder

2 cups icing sugar

Top Layer:

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 4 squares chocolate (1oz each)

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Method:

Bottom Layer:

Melt butter, sugar and cocoa in bain marie or a heavy saucepan. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat and stir in graham wafer crumbs, coconuts and nuts. Press firmly into ungreased 9x9 inch pan.

Middle Layer:

Cream the butter, milk, custard powder and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over the bottom layer. Put in fridge for twenty minutes until firm.

Top Layer:

Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. Allow to cool. When cool but still runny, spread over second layer. Chill in refrigerator. Cut into 36 squares.

Butter Tarts

We also made butter tarts which are another traditional Canadian treat. A friend was kind enough to share her secret family recipe with me. As the recipe is secret, I won't be sharing it here on the blog.

Each family's butter tart recipe differs slightly but the filling consists of egg, sugar and butter. You can add chopped nuts, raisins or leave them plain.

If someone were to ask you for traditional treats from your country, which would you choose?