Friends of mine own Armadale Farms Dairy Products. Sometimes I get to be the ‘test kitchen’ for recipes – and this one’s a goodie. There’s not much more Canadian in the dessert line (other than maple syrup of course) than Nanaimo Bars but when you make the custard filling with Quark (a European style cream-cheese-like product) – WELL!
The ingredient list for the base consists of:
2 1/2 cups chocolate baking crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
1/4 cup flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 350ºF (I can’t cook in metric). Mix crumbs, butter, nuts and coconut and press firmly onto the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Refrigerate will you prepare the filling.
Filling:
2 500g tubs of Quark
1 cup (or less) sugar
3 Tablespoons of Bird’s custard powder
4 eggs
Beat quark, sugar and custard powder until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition. Pour over chilled crust.
Bake 40-50 minutes until the center is almost set. Chill overnight.
Topping:
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 ounces Bakers Semi Sweet Chocolate
Place whipping cream and chocolate in a pan over medium heat, stirring steadily until the chocolate has melted and is well blended with the cream.
Pour over the squares and refrigerate until the chocolate firms up.
It’s ready to enjoy! This makes a LOT of squares and would be terrific for entertaining. I only wish I had had my camera in hand when Joel took his first bite!
Images by Ceci 