Nanaimo Bars for the Beaters Hut Bakers Club

A couple of weeks ago I took part in the third meeting of the Beaters Hut Bakers Club, a local baking group where members bring food to share based on a theme but, unlike the Clandestine Cake Club, there are no restrictions on the type of food you can bring.

This month the theme was International which turned out to be quite tricky - it's possible to have too much choice sometimes! After a lot of mind-changing I eventually settled on a recipe from one of my favourite places, British Columbia in Canada. Nanaimo Bars are thought to have originated in the 1950s when the recipe was submitted to a local Women's Institute Cookbook and have grown in popularity ever since.

Although I have been to British Columbia I have never actually tried a Nanaimo Bar, although I've heard lots of favourable reports from people who have. These have now earnt a permanent place in my repertoire though as they are delicious. They are very sweet (the white centre is basically just a buttercream) but the base of biscuit, chocolate, nuts and coconut adds bags of flavour and texture.

If you search the internet there are many different recipes to choose from but in the end I settled on this one. The top layer of chocolate isn't as thick as it seems to be in some of the pictures I came across but I think the amounts were about right.

Here are some of the other fantastic International dishes we had to choose from...

Janet's Italian Plum Torte

Poppy's French Lemon Macarons

Shauna's Indian Curry and Puri Breads

Jean's Honey Cake

Lucy's Mexican Empinadas, Mexican Dips and Tortillas

Rob's New Zealand Afghan Biscuits

Roger's Italian Focaccia

Shane's Portugese Custard Tarts

Vicky's German Battenburg

Bridget's Italian Panettone

Vicky's Turkish Baklava

Eleanor's French Profiteroles

For some reason I forgot to take a picture of Jessica's delicious Australian Lamingtons.

It was a great evening plus we had the added benefit of taking home the leftovers to enjoy the next day. Thanks to Shauna for bringing us all together. The next Beaters Hut Bakers Club is being held on Thursday 25th October and the theme is Halloween!

Sweet and Simple Bakes - Carrot Cake

This month's Sweet and Simple Bakes recipe is the classic carrot cake. If there is such a thing as a classic carrot cake recipe that is, as this is one of those cake recipes that seems to have endless variations. This particular recipe is certainly different from the one I usually turn to, which requires less carrot but the addition of a tin of crushed pineapple.

My contribution this month was a bit of a rushed affair as I only got around to making it the day before the deadline. No matter though as carrot cake is one of those cakes that doesn't seem to mind too much if you're in a bit of a hurry. No need to worry about creaming butter and sugar or beating the eggs in thoroughly. Apart from a bit of faffy carrot grating you just need to mix together the wet ingredients, add in the dry and there you have it.

And it takes just as little effort to eat it too. This recipe is definitely a good 'un - moist, full of flavour and great texture thanks to the sultanas and walnuts. The icing is lovely too - I was worried it might be too sweet but that turned not to be the case. Thanks S&SB - I'll be making this one again.

You can find the recipe here.