Raising the Nanaimo Bar

I have to admit that I have been postponing trying the VIU version of the Nanaimo bar for several months now.  After all, this city takes its Nanaimo Bars quite seriously.  A stroll through the Nanaimo museum, a tour of the Nanaimo Bar Trail, or even a news story about a grocery store that makes a dessert that is eight feet long by 3 feet wide sets a high standard.  We have proven repeatedly in our city that we love Nanaimo Bars.  There is a lot of pressure on the baking students at VIU to produce the perfect Nanaimo bar, and thus there is a lot of pressure on me to give a thorough review.  With the semester winding to a close, I gathered up all my courage and bought a strawberry Nanaimo bar from the cafeteria.

I have noticed that our students like to experiment with Nanaimo bar flavours.  I recall seeing a hazelnut Nanaimo bar in the cafeteria last month, and at Christmastime the baking students were selling peppermint Nanaimo bars to help fund their trip to France.  The strawberry Nanaimo bar caught my attention, however, as strawberries are my favorite food. 

The bottom crust of this Nanaimo bar was chocolaty and crunchy.  I tasted cocoa, coconut, and nuts, as anyone would expect from a Nanaimo bar.  I did not taste any strawberry in the bottom crust; however, I still had two more layers to go so I felt that I must persevere.  This was for a review, after all.  Another bite revealed the next layer: custard icing that was yellow, creamy, and offered just the right amount of sweetness to contrast with the cocoa.  Again, however, I did not taste any strawberry.  Finally, I took a bite of the smooth chocolate ganache layer on top and waited for it to melt in my mouth.  Like the rest of the Nanaimo bar, it was delicious, but again I didn’t taste any strawberries.  

Perplexed as to why a strawberry Nanaimo bar didn’t taste like strawberries, I slowly ate half the bar, searching for that strawberry flavour.  Alas, I found a hint of it in only one bite.  I decided that, perhaps, the problem was that the treat needed to come to room temperature in order to bring out the flavors, so I saved the other half of the Nanaimo bar for later.  Two hours later it had reached room temperature and I slowly ate the other half.  While the chocolate certainly tasted better at room temperature, I still did not taste strawberry.  I was disappointed.

In spite of the fact that the strawberry Nanaimo bar did not live up to its description, I still would recommend trying all the Nanaimo bars that the baking students create.  After all, these students are daily being challenged to come up a new Nanaimo bar recipe that will impress the people of Nanaimo, and it is our duty as citizens to step up to the plate and help them reach that goal.