January 2010 Daring Bakers Challenge: The World Comes to Canada

After a few days of erratic, spotty Internet connection, I can finally post pictures to blogger to share the most recent baking challenge! The January 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose 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. Nanaimo bars are a famous no-bake dessert with origins near Nanaimo, British Columbia. Check out Wikipedia for a brief (hopefully trustworthy) history.

Lauren is a Canadian teen living with Celiacs disease: an often painful disorder in which the body cannot process gluten correctly. Eating gluten free is challenging to say the least, and for quite some time I have used Lauren's website as a resource (before I ever joined Daring Bakers), which sports creative, delicious, gluten-free recipes. Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks website is another great resource (a lot of vegan or organic stuff), and I recommend checking out both websites for healthy recipe ideas.

Anyways, back to the point. I had to laugh when I saw the challenge on the 1st of January. After being introduced to Nanaimo bars via some Canadian friends, Canada's favorite confection soon became a Christmas tradition in my Texan family. Unfortunately the last of the nanaimo bars disappeared the day before I received January's challenge. For just a moment, I regretted not having taken pictures of them..a very tiny moment. Obviously, this challenge meant my family would simply have to endure a double dose of the heavenly dessert...this time with a twist!

In exchange for the custard filling I used a peanut butter filling which turned out mm'mm' good. However, I'm not going to share the recipe. If you want to try nanaimo bars, start with the classic custard-filled recipe. Seriously...have you ever tasted heaven in your mouth? If not, try this recipe. It's an easy, no-bake dessert that looks beautiful (at least I think they do). More pics and links to the recipes after the jump!

Thanks Lauren for bringing in the new year with a great challenge!

Even though this isn't the most aesthetically pleasing photograph (okay..so not at all), I thought I'd show off the nanaimo bars on our Texas Christmas plate. Please note the cowboy-boot wearin' Santa pulled along in his sleigh by the Texas longhorns. For some reason, the irony of a Texan dish supporting Canadian dessert tickles my funny bone... and I kinda love it.

Check out the recipes for the gluten-free graham wafers and nanaimo bars here