Oh No Nanaimo!

Perhaps my first mistake was not following my friend Sam's recipe for Nanaimo Bars. After all, as a native Canadian (from Vancouver), she should know her Nanaimo Bars. Instead, I trusted my friend Dori, a native New Yorker (from the Bronx), to supply me with a recipe for the famous British Columbia treats.

I'm not sure what my second mistake was, but clearly I made one because the bottom layer of the bars I produced pretty much crumbled in my hands. And the middle layer was just an ooey gooey mess of sickeningly sweet goop.

I can't blame Dori since she was just trying to make my life easier by presenting me with an Americanized version of the Nanaomo Bar (translated by Kraft). After all, I could barely decipher Sam's recipe, which called for vanilla custard powder. It took me several days before I realized that custard powder is the same as instant pudding.

Since I didn't have any Graham Cracker Crumbs around the house, I had fun crumbling graham crackers by hand. Ditto for the walnut pieces, which I smashed to bits with a potato masher. So it was a good recipe for working through any excess aggression.

I also liked the fact that I didn't need to use the oven for this recipe. Otherwise, I'd say it was pretty much a disaster.

The middle layer -- which consists of dry pudding mix, softened butter and powdered sugar, was sickeningly sweet (not surprisingly, that was the girls' favorite part). The bottom layer was a crumbly mess and the top layer was too bitter (I mistakenly used bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet).

Jesse and Ruby enjoyed squeezing out the inner goop, dipping their fingers in the mess and then licking it off. But even they lost interest when it came to the chocolate.

I forced Avo to try just one bite.

"Well, it's better than anchovies," he said. Avo hates anchovies.

This morning I was about to dump the messy creation in the trash, but Jesse asked me to hang on to it so she could play with it after-school. So I may not have succeeded at creating a delicious dessert, but I did make an after-school activity!

After a heavy week of baking, I am getting heavier by the minute. I think it's time to get back to some lentil and bulgur dishes!

Nanaimo Bars Win!

I guess it wasn't much of a competition -- yummy, gooey, exotic-sounding Nanaomi bars vs. my mom's apple coffee bake. The deck was stacked pretty much in favor of the Nanaimo Bars and not surprisingly, Nanaimo Bars won. So they will be the next sweet treat I will try to bake (sorry, mom).

I'm gathering the ingredients and promise to report back as soon as I've done the deed.

Meanwhile, with so many holiday parties ahead, it's a good thing I've learned the basics of baking. Now I don't have to fret about what to bring to the upcoming festivities.

Then again, Nanaimo Bars don't exactly shout "Hanukkah!"

What's For Dessert?

Thanksgiving is so last week. I've ridden the wave of apple pie success for long enough. It's time to tackle another challenge.

After all of the fun I had baking sweets for Thanksgiving, now that's all I want to do. Last night, I swear I dreamed about brownies.

Maybe my friend Sam could sense I needed a new goal because she e-mailed a suggestion:

This might be a little bit over-the-top complicated - but the Nanaimo Bar is a seriously delicious native-to-British Columbia treat. Now that you have baked an apple pie (which looks gorgeous, btw), perhaps you are feeling ambitious enough to try something like this. They're so yummy...

I know a challenge when I hear one.

I checked out the recipe for Nanaimo bars and Sam is right -- they look pretty tricky. They also look insanely good. Note that they're referred to as both "sinfully rich" and calorie-laden." Plus, they've got a mildly interesting history, if you care about that sort of thing.

Just when I was all set to take on Nanaimo bars, my mom e-mailed with a much less intimidating dessert idea:

Coffee Apple Cake

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2 Cups Unsifted flour
1-1/2 Cups sugar
2 tspn cinnamon
2 tspn baking soda (not baking powder)
1 tspn salt
1/2 Cup oil OR apple sauce
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
1-1/2 Cups peeled, sliced apples - (about 1-1/2 large Rome, Gala Or Fuji apples)
1 Cup chopped nuts

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
Stir in wet ingredients and blend.
Stir in apples and nuts
Pour into greased and floured 9" tube pan or bundt pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until tester is clean

Glaze:
1 Cup powdered sugar
2 Scant TBSP milk
Whisk until thick and drizzle over cake.

Serve warm or cool, sprinkled with powdered sugar or glazed (see above). Serves 10-12.

It doesn't look nearly as decadent as the Nanaimo bars and it looks a lot easier to bake. I can't decide which to try first. Can you please decide for me?