Bluebells & Butterflies

Yesterday Nathan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! 10 years ago when we were just 17 years old we became a couple and we knew instantly that it was more than a fleeting romance.

Nathan and I were very good friends throughout school and he had a crush on me throughout this time, but I just didn’t see him in that way. It was when we went to college that he seemed to mature and become more sensitive that I saw a different Nathan to the perpetual joker he was at school.

10 years ago we shared our first kiss and it was then that we knew it was love, and as cheesy as it sounds, it was as if something sparked between us like fireworks bursting into the sky. From that moment on we fell head over heels in love and we have been joined at the hip ever since.

I feel so grateful and blissfully happy that we are celebrating 10 years of love that grows more with each and every day, but most of all I am grateful that I have just spent the past 10 years with my best friend and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with Nathan, my darling husband to be.

Happy weekend everyone

Love Morwenna xoxo

As you know from my post on Thursday 14^th January I have completed my first Daring Cooks challenge and now is the time to complete my first Daring Bakers Challenge. The Daring Bakers challenge for January is a classic Canadian sweet treat called Nanaimo bars and is being hosted by Daring Baker Lauren and the blog checking lines are: The January 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiacteen and she chose the yummy Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca

If like me you are clueless about Nanaimo bars you can find some interesting information about them here

Lauren chose to make these bars for two reasons, the first being that she wanted to introduce her fellow bakers to gluten free baking because she is celiac. However Lauren did kindly advise that you can make the graham crackers with wheat flour, but in the nature of the challenge and out of respect for Lauren I wanted to make them her way. Lauren also wanted to make these bars to honour the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver which begins February 12^th and you can find out more here

The first step of making the Nanaimo bars is to make the graham crackers for the base of the bars (there are three layers in total). In replacement of the wheat flour Lauren suggested tapioca (aka cassava) flour, sweet rice flour and sorghum (aka juwar) flour. I tried my local health food shops, but I could only find the tapioca flour. I knew that I could find the others in an Asian food shop, but unfortunately I do not have one local to me, so I ordered the others from an online Asian supermarket. Once the flours arrived I could dive into the gluten free territory and start making the dough. After the chilling the dough is ready to be rolled out, chilled again and then baked. Once cooled the graham crackers then need to be crushed into crumbs, I crushed mine using a food bag to hold the crackers and then I gave them a good battering with the rolling pin. I decided to freeze the remainder of the crackers as the recipe only uses 1¼ cups of graham cracker crumbs. It was early this morning that I realised I had neglected to take any photos of them or the crumbs! The next time I use them in a recipe I shall be sure to photograph them!

The base is made from cocoa powder, butter and sugar

An egg is then added to thicken the mixture. Then the graham cracker crumbs, desiccated coconut and flaked almonds are added to the chocolate mixture to make the base.

This is then pressed into an 8 x 8'' tin

The middle layer is a mixture of creamed butter, icing sugar, Bird’s custard powder and double cream. This is then layered over the base

Unfortunately the quantity of chocolate topping did not cover the custard layer

So I had to make some more for a full and even coverage, but it turns out that I made too much so the chocolate topping was actually too thick...but you can never have too much chocolate!

The Nanaimo Bars

That top one was ready for my tummy! They are delicious, but very sweet indeed, so a few tiny squares from one regular square was enough for me :)

Thank you very much Lauren for introducing me to gluten-free baking and for making my first Daring Bakers challenge so enjoyable and delicious, I will definitely be making these Canadian delicacies again, but without as much chocolate topping as it turns out you can have a little too much chocolate! If you would like to make these too, please find the recipe below

Preparation time:
• Graham Wafers: 30 to 45 minutes total active prep, 2 ½ hours to overnight and 45 minutes inactive prep.
• Nanaimo Bars: 30 minutes.

Equipment required:
• Food Processor
• Bowls
• Parchment paper or silpats
• Cookie sheets
• Double boiler or pot and heatproof bowl
• 8 by 8 inch square pan
• Hand mixer or stand mixer (You may use a wooden spoon, but this makes it much easier!)
• Saucepan

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers
Ingredients
1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Sorghum Flour
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.
2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.
3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.
5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.
7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.
8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take much less time, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster. *Mine baked in 12 minutes so probably best to check them then*
9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients:

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter

1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar

5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa

1 Large Egg, Beaten

1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)

1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)

1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter

2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream

2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)

2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer

4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate

2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

Notes for gluten-free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars:

• Glutinous rice flour does not contain any gluten, as it is made from a type of rice called glutinous (or sweet) rice.

• The graham wafer dough is very sticky. Make sure you are flouring (with sweet rice flour) well, or the dough will be difficult to remove from the surface you roll it out on. Also be sure to keep it cold. You do not want the butter to melt.

• I chose these flours because of their availability. Tapioca starch/flour and sweet rice flour can often be found in Asian grocery stores, or in the Asian section of you grocery store. Sorghum can be slightly more difficult to find, but it can be replaced with brown rice flour, millet flour or other alternatives.

• In the Nanaimo Bars, it is very important that the chocolate be cool but still a liquid, otherwise the custard layer will melt, and it will mix with the chocolate, being difficult to spread. Allow the chocolate mixture to come to room temperature but not solidify before spreading the top layer on.

Additional Information:

These bars freeze very well, so don’t be afraid to pop some into the freezer.

The graham wafers may be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

If making the graham crackers with wheat, replace the gluten-free flours (tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, and sorghum flour) with 2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour, or wheat pastry flour. Watch the wheat-based graham wafers very closely in the oven, as they bake faster than the gluten-free ones, sometimes only 12 minutes.

For the Nanaimo Bars, if making with wheat, replace the gluten-free graham wafer crumbs with equal parts wheat graham wafer crumbs!

Happy Wednesday everyone, Love Morwenna xoxo