Recipe: Nanaimo bars

Recipe: Nanaimo bars
Source: My Kitchen Antics

We had a big family event at the weekend that required lots and lots of cake! I was happy to help and was asked to make something that would serve 20+ people. As well as being tasty, it needed to be something that could be stored for a couple of days, wasn’t messy to eat and, since I work full-time, I also wanted it to be incredibly easy to make or a recipe that I’d successfully made before. I opted for the latter...

I was first told about Nanaimo bars by a colleague in my old work. She told me they originated in Canada and, once I’d looked them up on Wikipedia, I knew I just had to make them. When the time came, I settled on this recipe from My Kitchen Antics (adapted from The Boy Who Bakes) because I was too lazy to follow a recipe that used cups for measurements, and I also liked the way it had added pecans to the base.

The first time I ever made these, I also made a peanut butter version (following a different recipe), and both types were a big hit. I’ve made this ‘original’ recipe again since and they turned out exactly the same – no problems! My memory did fail me, though, as I was thinking I’d only previously got 16 pieces out of the batch rather than the predicted 20–25, so I ended up making two batches for the weekend...I ended up with 40 slices. Oh well, the more the merrier!

For some reason, I didn’t read the recipe properly on this occasion, so I lined my baking trays with greased baking paper rather than foil. Whilst this did turn out ok, it made it harder to ease the finished product from the tins, so I’ll definitely be sticking to the foil in future!

The recipe was as easy as I remembered it. I used digestive biscuits which I whizzed in the food processor and the smell of these combined with the coconut was fantastic. When preparing the cocoa mixture for the base, I loved watching it turn silky and thick and, once combined with the rest of the ingredients, all the elements held together really well and left the mixing bowl clean once transferred to the baking tray. It smelt delicious and tiffin-like, although its slightly greasy appearance didn’t look promising in terms of any health benefits. (Who am I kidding? This was never going to be a healthy treat!) In terms of pressing this layer down into the tin, I’ve always found that the back of a metal serving spoon does the job nicely.

 

The middle layer was my only cause for concern on this occasion. When mixing the butter and icing sugar, it didn’t go smooth before I added the cream (as the picture shows), and I couldn’t remember if that had happened before. I carried on regardless and, thankfully, everything turned out fine. For this layer, I used a spatula to spread it evenly.

I was slightly nervous about the final layer of these bars as my last experience was of making an orange version where I made the stupid mistake of setting the heat too high and leaving the chocolate for the full two minutes without checking on it. The result was a burnt-tasting ganache! I definitely learnt from my error and had no further problems this time so I quite happily applied it to the top of the traybake with a palette knife.

The only downside of this recipe is that it does require patience in taking time to spread each layer out carefully (although I’m a non-artistic perfectionist so probably take longer than most!) and then leaving them to set. On this occasion, my start to end baking time was around five hours but, bearing in mind I made two batches, stopped for lunch, had a couple of fights with cling film (urgh) and realised part way through that I didn’t have enough icing sugar and had to wait for more to arrive, this seemed totally reasonable. Even better was the fact that I remained stress-free throughout!

Most importantly, the Nanaimo bars were as rich as ever. They had a lovely chocolatey taste with a subtle coconut flavour and chunky pecans. I guess they weren’t too dissimilar from other chocolate traybakes, but I think these Nanaimo bars were sweeter than most, although this was mellowed greatly by the chocolate. I’ve always found that the custard adds more texture than flavour, whilst the icing sugar provides a different, slightly grainy texture in the middle layer, which is also something different to other similar treats.

 

As for the crowd, they were definitely pleased – I only heard positive comments from those who tried them and some people raved and raved. I know I’ll be making these for years to come!

  

Ease of recipe: 9.5/10
Finished product: 9/10
Overall score: 9.25/10
Bake again? Yes

Celebrations

Product name: Celebrations
Calories: 344 per 70g box

This mini box of Celebrations was the other food item in the goody bag I recently received.

Made by Mars for the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland, this ‘assortment of milk chocolates and a milk chocolate covered biscuit’ is my favourite mainstream variety box to receive as a gift since I think the combination of eight brands inside is the best one!

Despite being a small box, this pack still featured the usual red design and the great logo that incorporates the fonts used on the wrappers within – images of these were also printed on the cardboard.

The milk chocolate used for the bite-sized treats contained a minimum of 14% milk solids and 25% cocoa solids and each variety had a pretty thick and chunky outer shell which made me a happy bunny.

Galaxy

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Galaxy milk chocolate is my favourite kind. This glossy ‘G’-imprinted chunk came in the usual brown wrapper and was the basic kind that, when sold alone, is now called ‘Smooth Milk’.

The Galaxy website described the chocolate as ‘smooth and creamy’ that had been ‘lovingly created to melt in your mouth’. I couldn’t disagree with this since it featured the same scent and strong flavour I experienced with the Bubbles (milk chocolate egg) and a good melt that was slow, thick but smooth. It reminded me of the old adverts that me and my brother used to imitate! 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8/10 

Mars

I’ve always seen the Mars bar as being manly and basic but, at the same time, I’ve always enjoyed it. However, I’ve previously found that it doesn’t work quite as well on a smaller scale as the proportions aren’t quite right.

This miniature Mars came in its distinctive black and red wrapper but something seemed to have gone slightly wrong with the bumpy design on the chocolate shell! The Mars website described the product as ‘a delicious fusion of chocolate, caramel and nougat’ and I was pleased to see that the layer of nougat was far thicker than the caramel and its mid-brown shade suggested it would have a chocolatey flavour.

The Mars’ scent was not dissimilar to the Galaxy’s and it tasted very sweet and chocolatey. I didn’t think its flavour was of the highest quality but it was very tasty and I did enjoy the soft nougat and overall chewy but melting texture. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.25/10 

Bounty

As a big coconut fan, I do like Bounty bars, so I was pleased to see that the tropical desert island-themed white, green and pale blue wrapper was included in this selection. I did think the Mars website was being a bit overdramatic in claiming ‘the moist, tender coconut tempts your senses with the taste of paradise’ but I enjoyed this sweet nevertheless!

Unlike the Peter Paul Almond Joy, the coconut in this chocolate shell had a fresh white appearance, although it did still have a deep coconutty aroma.

The Bounty also had a strong, milky coconut flavour and I was pleased that the chocolate’s taste was also evident. The coconut’s texture lived up to the expectations raised by its moist and bitty appearance too. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.5/10 

Galaxy Caramel

The Galaxy Caramel had the same outer appearance as the standard Galaxy chunk but, this time, it contained a fantastic-looking thick, amber caramel centre. The wrapper was also similar but it featured the colour yellow to distinguish it from the basic chocolate. (Thankfully there was no Honeycomb Crisp variety included here to confuse this with!)

Galaxy's website claimed the inner caramel was ‘luscious’ and I certainly did enjoy this treat more than Cadbury’s equivalent of Dairy Milk: Caramel – I found it to be more silky and less stodgy.

The caramel didn’t really add anything to the aroma (in fact, the scent didn’t seem as strong here) but I loved how it burst into the mouth with its smooth texture reflecting the chocolate’s. It was very sweet and quite sugary compared to other caramels, and I did prefer the flavour of the chocolate on its own, but this was still very tasty. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.88/10 

Snickers

I’m not actually a massive fan of the standard Snickers bar as I find it a bit too bitty and chewy and, whilst there are actual peanuts, there’s not peanut butter! Like the Mars, I also think of this brand as male-orientated, and this was reflected with the chocolate-brown wrapper.

According to Mars' website, I was surprised to see that the Snickers is actually the world’s best-selling bar, whilst the Snickers site gave the product description of being ‘packed with roasted peanuts, nougat, caramel and milk chocolate’.

I was impressed by the neat inner appearance of this bite-sized piece. The caramel was the main feature and was full of chopped peanuts. The nougat was pale in colour and, on sampling it, there appeared to be nuts in there too. The nougat itself was slightly sticky but added a sweetness to the otherwise strong peanut flavour.

The chocolate tasted nice and creamy and I noticed that the toasted aspect of the peanuts was also evident. The caramel provided a chewy texture and I actually found I preferred this product in miniature form since the nuts were a lot smaller and, for me, more manageable.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.38/10 

Maltesers Teasers

This has always been my first choice in a box of Celebrations since, for so many years, it was the only Maltesers product like it – I was delighted when Mars released the separate Malteaster products and, now, the Teasers bars!

The red wrapper continued the theme of standard Maltesers and, whilst still long and narrow, this was the only miniature with a particularly curved appearance that featured a wave design. Inside, there were lots of tiny, crispy honeycomb balls to reflect the centre of normal Maltesers.

The scent, again, was similar to Galaxy chocolate – it was stronger than Maltesers but weaker than Galaxy chocolate itself.

Having eaten this variety after a Galaxy, I could tell that the chocolate tasted a bit less creamy than Galaxy but, in turn, it was more chocolatey.

The texture was very crispy and, despite the small size of the honeycomb pieces, I loved that it still managed to stick to the teeth and it also provided a mild honey flavour.

As expected, I enjoyed having a higher ratio of chocolate to honeycomb here since, whilst the flavour remained unchanged, the less rough texture was preferable.

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10 

Twix

I’ve reviewed the full-size Twix previously so I have nothing more to add here!

I’ve marked down its aroma score slightly since it wasn’t quite as strong but, other than that, everything else remained the same. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10 

Milky Way

The Milk Way featured its usual blue and Space-themed wrapper design and was described on Mars' website as ‘a light whipped centre covered in tasty milk chocolate’.

Its outer appearance was the same as the Snickers and its very pale beige nougat appeared to have the same texture as the Mars.

The Milky Way had a milky scent and I enjoyed the quite mild but nice and sweet flavour that its really soft nougat provided. I also liked how the chocolate shell tasted creamy against this sugariness. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

Overall, this was the enjoyable selection that I expected – I was just sorry I only had one of each variety to enjoy on this occasion!

Appearance: 7.44/10
Aroma: 7.31/10
Taste: 7.63/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.6/10

Mrs. Freshley's Snowballs: Creme filled cakes

Product name: Mrs. Freshley’s Snowballs: Creme filled cakes
Purchase details: £1.99 for a 120g pack of two Snowballs (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 210 per Snowball (420 per pack)
Country of origin: USA

These Mrs. Freshley’s Snowballs were recommended to me a while ago via the A Quarter of Sweets Twitter page but, since I’m not a huge fan of marshmallow-heavy products, I passed. I’d failed to notice the ‘Creme filled cakes’ part of the product name so, when I was recently told by a staff member in-store that they contained chocolate cake, my arm was twisted!

Distributed by Flowers Foods Speciality Group, these very pink and very squidgy coconut-covered Snowballs came in the usual style of Mrs. Freshley’s packaging and looked rather pretty on the outside, although I wasn’t convinced that this colour went very well with the dark cake within! The marshmallow looked a bit meringue-like, in that its inner edge was slightly golden, and the creme filling was also clearly visible towards the bottom of each cake. The bases of the Snowballs were left uncovered by the marshmallow coating but I ended up being glad of this.

The marshmallow was incredibly bouncy to the touch to the extent that it almost felt alive – a part of me was genuinely afraid it was going to move of its own accord! It was stretchy to bite into and, in the mouth, its spongy texture dissolved almost instantly. It didn’t really taste of anything but I did enjoy the strong coconut flavour from the bitty coating. This coconut also provided a mellow scent that mixed in the with slight chocolate cake aroma emanating from the centre.

The chocolate cake contained less than 2% cocoa, which seemed a shame, but it actually tasted pretty similar to the Mrs. Freshley's Fudge Bake: Brownie (candy topped). It had quite a crumbly texture, but was also moist, and I really enjoyed the lovely sweet and thick creme filling within it.

The flavours of the four elements worked well together and I found that the coconut had a surprising kick to it – almost tasting salty in comparison to the sweet centre.

Unfortunately, though, the texture of the marshmallow did spoil my enjoyment of the product as it almost felt as if I was foaming at the mouth. I definitely prefer standard marshmallows to the marshmallow part of this product but, as a whole, the overall Snowballs were a lot more enjoyable than I expected them to be when I first heard about them. They definitely would have scored more highly if they’d just been coconut-covered creme-filled chocolate cakes!

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 6/10
Overall score: 6.75/10