Nanaimo Bars Makes 12 to 16 extremely rich bars I scarcely know how to describe these; the word that leaped to mind when I first tasted them was "profane," but in a good way (if you know what I mean). I ought to point out here that I take pride in my constitution where desserts are concerned. I laugh at recipe suggestions that tell you to serve very, very small portions because the dessert is very, very rich. I scoff at milk chocolate. I am the sort of person who can sit down to do battle with any old brownie or devil's food cake and have a dandy time eating far too much of it. All those goofy sweets that have names like Death by Chocolate are never as decadent as I think they're going to be, and I have, as a consequence, gotten rather blasé. Then I ate my first Nanaimo bar. It made my toenails curl, and I knew I'd met my match. I, who quailed not before the deepest, darkest chocolate cakes! I, who thought nothing of snitching a few restaurant mints on my way out, mere moments after having downed a piece of bourbon pecan torte! I, who laughed in the face of any and every dessert, could not bring myself to eat more than one of these at a time! I have decided that Nanaimo Bars is far too innocent a name. We ought to just call these The Devil Incarnate and be done with it. Recipes for Nanaimo Bars can be found in many cookbooks (especially those from Up North). I tinkered and tinkered by combining aspects of several different recipes, the result of which you see here. In the freezer, these keep very well indefinitely. Yeah, right. Like you're going to have them around that long. Step I ingredients: 1 stick (4 ozs.) butter 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ozs.) sugar 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 large egg whites 1/3 cup cocoa 1 generous cup graham cracker crumbs (if you buy a 1-lb. box, there are three packets of crackers inside. About 3/4 of one of these packets comes out to 1 generous cup when crushed into crumbs) 1 1/4 cups chopped pecans or walnuts Step II ingredients: 1/2 stick (2 ozs.) butter, melted and cooled 2 Tablespoons vanilla or chocolate instant pudding mix 3 Tablespoons milk (I use skim, but any kind will work) 2 cups confectioner's sugar Step III ingredients: 4 ozs. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter Step I: -- Lightly grease a 9" square pan. Melt butter over low heat. Turn heat up to medium and blend in sugar, vanilla, egg whites, and cocoa, stirring constantly until very smooth and thick, about 3 minutes. -- Remove from heat. Stir into this the graham cracker crumbs and chopped nuts. Press mixture into prepared pan. Step II: -- Mix together the butter, instant pudding, milk and confectioner's sugar. Spread over crumb mixture and chill in fridge until firm, about 20 minutes. Remove from fridge about 10 minutes before beginning Step III. Step III: -- Melt together the chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool slightly and spread on top of chilled mixture. Chill again until chocolate is firm (do not freeze yet, or chocolate will break up into pieces when you try to cut into bars). Cut into bars. Store, tightly wrapped, in freezer. Storage Nanaimo Bars keep in the freezer, tightly wrapped, for a couple of weeks. OTHER FROZEN AND CHILLED RECIPES Catherine S. Vodrey is available for freelance writing, editing, fundraising/development, and photography projects at: Post Office Box 835 East Liverpool, Ohio 43920 USA E-MAIL: WordBanquet@gmail.com Thank you for visiting www.WordBanquet.com!