April Fools- "Cake"

Nanaimo Bar Whoopie Pie

I think we all can agree April flew by. Two weeks of the month were spent with my family in Canada where we got together for my Nanny's 90th Birthday Party! I could spend days talking about how much I love Canada and my family there. It's home to some of the most beautiful places in the world, and I'm lucky enough to have seen so much of it. Also I've finally sent out for proof of my dual citizenship...hopefully soon to come!

Travel with me across the continent to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to the small city of Nanaimo(NAH-NYE-MO). Now I'll take you back to the mid 1800s. The coal mining industry was booming, probably literally in fact. There was a huge mine in the center of Nanaimo where most of the citizens were employed. Coal mining isn't the safest of jobs, and sometimes men could be trapped for hours/days in the mines if something went wrong. The wives of these men decided to make a treat to give to their husbands to eat if they came across problems. Something high fat, high calorie to help keep them satisfied and happy. That's the story of how the Nanaimo bar came to exist. At least according to my Uncle Craig, and why would he lie?! I know what you're thinking, "you had me at high fat, high calorie!" I feel the same, so I'll get on with it...

I developed my own twist on the Nanaimo bar, by mashing it with something uniquely Maine(or Amish if you believe that), the Whoopie Pie!

The Cakes- I developed my own formula for these cakes because as far as I know, I'm the first to make this dessert. I'm keeping the specifics a secret but here's the gist. Chocolate cakes with graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts.

Chocolate Butter Ganache- No one in my family had heard of a butter ganache before, but it's just a ganache made with butter instead of cream, and is usually equal parts of each. The Nanaimo bar is usually topped with a ganache layer, but since a whoopie pie is a sandwich, I decided to coat the inside of both cakes with the ganache. It proved to still not be enough ganache, the limit does not exist!!

The Filling- There's something about a Nanaimo bar filling that's simply put, addicting. The secret? Vanilla pudding powder. I made a Swiss BC to start. At the end stage of that after adding all my butter, I added 3-4 Tablespoons of vanilla instant pudding mix, as well as some vanilla bean paste. It came out delightful. Smooth and buttery with just enough artificial pudding flavor to seep into the blood stream and start the addiction process.

Da Whoopie: All together this was delicious! As my brother-in-law put it "The best Nanaimo bar, as well as the best whoopie pie he's ever had".  These are very dense, rich desserts, and although I had no problem eating a whole one, society may want them a little smaller. It was difficult to bite into the entire whoopie pie...think of how you eat a tall hamburger. Future Nanaimo bar whoopies will not be as tall, without sacrificing the filling to cake ratio. They'll also have more ganache, maybe even some with ganache on the top...

Now, do yourself a favor and buy a one way ticket to Nanaimo BC, preferably not on AirCanada(unless you love long delays), to try one of these classic Canadian treats. Or if you hate traveling, make your own batch, or hire me to make you some.

Looks pretty good, eh?