The Informant
The following recipe was shared by CM, a Canadian from Alberta, with verification from his mother.
The Text
A common Canadian dessert/treat composing of three layers, commonly found confectionary stores, supermarkets, and occasionally bakeries, and served at gatherings or laid out as snacks.
Base Layer Ingredients
- Cocoa Powder
- Graham crackers (CM originally recalled this as quick oats before verifying with his mother)
- Shredded coconut (sweetened)
- Butter
- Sugar
Firm Custard Ingredients
- Custard powder
- Mix with butter, powdered sugar, and milk
- Hold back on liquid
Chocolate Ingredient
- Semisweet chocolate (or sometimes dark)
Instructions
- Mix crushed graham cracker, sugar, cocoa butter, and shredded coconut into melted butter
- Fill and chill in inch deep baking pan to set for base of bar
- Spread an inch of firm custard over base
- Melt and temper semisweet chocalate and fill into the baking pan and chill to set
Analysis
The simplicity of the dessert’s composition, with no baking required, being any variable base of sweet grains from wafers to crackers to oats sometimes mixed in with nuts, a filling that can vary from custard to flavored icing, and a chocolate finish of various chocolate variety lends itself to various ecotypes as it spreads, all identified with the unifying identity of coconut flavor being somehow included in the base and sometimes the icing. Its post-war emergence and rise in popularity after being presented in a global event like Expo 86 leading to it being dubbed “Canada’s Favorite Confection” in a National Post reader survey may hint to Canada’s search for a stronger national identity after the events of WWII reshaping the dynamic of the world powers as Canada enjoyed reinvigorated economic prosperity, general optimism from post-war victory national pride, and greater global political influence during the formation of the United Nations.