Nanaimo Bars

Yummy dessert bars from the city of Nanaimo, BC. Canada where uncle Dave is from. One of dad's favorite guilty pleasures.

Ingredients

3/4 C. Margarine or butter + 1 Tbsp – divided
7 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1/2 C. Sugar
1 large Egg
1 C. Fine grain Coconut
2 C. Graham Cracker Crumbs
Buttercream Frosting homemade or store bought
3 Tbsp. Bird’s Custard Powder (can purchase at Walmart or at most grocery stores in Canada)
4 or 5 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Instructions

First Layer:

Melt Margarine (or butter) in a sauce pan.
Add Cocoa Powder.
Stir in Sugar.
Remove from heat, add Egg and stir.
Stir in fine grain Coconut and Graham Cracker Crumbs
-Press in bottom of a lined 9×11” cake pan. Refrigerate.

Second Layer:

Make your favorite Butter Cream Icing and add Bird’s Custard Powder to taste, the mixture should be yellow and sweet.
Beat with mixer.
Spread over first layer and refrigerate.

Third Layer:

In a double boiler melt Semi-Sweet Chocolate and 1 Tbsp. of melted margarine or butter. (heat very slowly just until melted, if you go longer it will seize. If this happens, try adding some hot cream to smooth it out.)
When melted, smooth over second layer and refrigerate.
Let come to room Temperature and cut through top layer and then refrigerate again until firm.

Notes

May top with a thick Ganache instead if desired.

To make, combine very warm cream to semi-sweet chocolate at a ratio of 2 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. let site for 5 minutes to let the cream heat up the chocolate. Stir until silky smooth. Poor over first two layers and let cool in the refrigerator for an hour or two to set.

Layer thickness is up to you. Dad likes a really thick first layer with thinner other layers and I like a thinner first layer, lots of custard and a thin layer of chocolate.

If making your own buttercream, make it on the thicker/stiffer side, you want it to be able to hold up at room temp and sandwiched between two stiff layers. I usually have about 3/4-1″ layer of the buttercream custard layer in my bars.