Yes, that makes sense. I made it for a holiday dinner, so a winter dessert. She suggests serving with whipped cream, but I made pink peppercorn ice cream to go with it (adapting the Sichuan pepper ice cream recipe in The Perfect Scoop), which was a good accompaniment and felt right for the season.
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Thanks for the report! It looks beautiful. I do understand the disappointment about taste. You always inspire me.
And, condolences on your dad.
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Thank you so much for your kind thoughts! 
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Dang, I was SUPER INVESTED in your loving this.
Lol! Me, too! I really wanted it to be a hit. Meh. 
Thank you! Pretty sure it’s Fat Daddio’s PCC-73 Cheesecake/Cake Pan 7 x 3 Inch.
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Just a heads up that those maple sandwich cookies are available at Trader Joe’s right now in the States.
Strawberry Summer Cake from Smitten kitchen. I had some strawberries languishing in the fridge so used them up here. Cooked strawberries aren’t my favourite but this is easy and tasty.
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Ok, good to know!
There’s surprisingly a big difference between different brands of commerical maple cream sandwich cookies!
The ones at Farm Boy (our Trader Joe’s knock -off that is owned by the Sobeys chain) and a few small batch brands that use real syrup
are superior to the standard Dare brand which is the one found in most national chains, and most grocery store house brands!
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The TJ’s version uses real syrup.
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Good! I’m glad it’s a good version! 
Pittsburgh now has 3 Trader Joe’s locations.
So, I won’t bother sending maple creams from Canada, since my cousins can buy their own at TJ’s 
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the last 2 are not just Canadian, but very Prairie to me? I haven’t seen puffed wheat squares east of Manitoba!
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Yes, definitely more popular on the Prairie.
These PA and OH cousins are the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and one great great grandchild of someone from Saskatchewan!
I have been seeing more puffed wheat squares at gas stations in rural ON lately. Not often, but occasionally!
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Following the lead of @Stef_bakes, I made the Easiest Swedish Rye (Kavring) from True North Kitchen. “Easy” is an understatement! Mix, stir, bake – into the oven in 10 minutes (where it bakes for 2 hours). I used a medium rye, and Swedish Baking Syrup for the sweetener.
We sampled a bit with butter today at tea time – so good! I’m looking forward to breaking out the smoked salmon for breakfast tomorrow.
I did email the writer of the blog to see if she has recommendations on bake time for a half loaf in an 8"x4" pan. My photo shows the full sized loaf, but if she responds, I’ll post here.
Here’s the link to Stef’s original post.
And here’s a photo of my bread:
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…And TIL there’s such a thing as Swedish baking syrup.
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Nice. Yes, its so easy and so good that its ridiculous. Glad you like it. Jammy said that its similar to a recipe they bake in Iceland called volcanic bread(I presume burying in volcanic ground. I told this to some friends when i served them some and boy did it make an impression.
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Traditional Chocolate Chip Mandelbrot. This is from a book that I bought about a decade ago at a thrift store. Traditional Jewish Holiday Baking by Marcy Goldman. I’ve baked them many times but first time using mini chips. Using mini, they were easier to cut and prettier.
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My grandparents were from PEI. Cousin Shirley introduced us, her American cousins, to Nanaimo bars way back and I will be forever grateful. No one here is familiar and they are always a hit, with a dash of curiosity…“what are these??” I tell folks they’re like what chocolate chip cookies are to America…ubiquitous and iconic.
Apparently Gumdrop cake is another classic ( I must admit I’ve never ventured there, doesn’t appeal) but Shirley swears it’s hall of fame worthy, at least in Canada.
from Shirley’s pen!
Gumdrop Cake Good!!!
1/2 lb butter,
8 oz cream cheese;
1 1/2 cups white sugar;
4 eggs;
2 and 1/4 cups flour;
I add 1 tsp each of vanilla, lemon and almond extract.
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups gumdrops cut in quarters
Method: put 1/4 cup flour over gumdrops, coating well. Beat butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time.
Beat well after each addition. Beat in cream cheese. Add Extracts. Then add flour, baking powder and
gumdrops. Mix well. Put in well greased tube pan ( I use a Bundt pan} Bake at 325 deg for 70 to 80 min.
Put pan of water in oven while baking.
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Thanks for the recipe!!
Gumdrop cookies are another old school Canadian cookie in the cookie table at Xmas! I haven’t had them in years.
From the Maritimes, Butterscotch Pie and Blueberry Pie, and Blueberry Grunt are classics, but they won’t travel well by post! And, Saskatoon Berry Pie from Saskatchewan!
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Do you have a Nanaimo bar recipe you like and could share?
