Ontario bakers look to heat up friendly competition with B.C. over Nanaimo bar record

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In the kitchen of Northwest Fudge Factory in Levack, Ont., a group of five children spent the better part of a day last month mixing hundreds of kilograms of butter, sugar, chocolate and graham crackers before carefully spreading distinct layers on top of each other.

The result was a 544-kilogram Nanaimo bar that they claimed was the largest ever made.

The group snatched an unofficial record set just weeks earlier, when culinary arts students at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., created a confection weighing just 45 kilograms less.

The fudge factory says they received some biting messages from the dessert’s namesake community after announcing the feat.

The same group of Ontario kids already holds the current Guinness World Record for the largest Nanaimo bar after they baked a 240-kilogram bar back in 2020.

Chantelle Gorham, one of the owners of the fudge factory, says she chose not to go through the process of recording the latest endeavour in the Guinness record books because they want Nanaimo residents to claim it.

“We understand that the Nanaimo bar is near and dear to Nanaimo, B.C., and this is something they should be very proud of,” said Gorham, whose kids were part of the Ontario baking team.

The Nanaimo students didn’t follow the Guinness verification process either, instead relying on validation through the Baking Association of Canada and the Culinary Association of Canada.

After hearing about “nasty emails” being sent to the Ontario fudge factory, Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog said he felt a “certain disappointment.”

“That kind of negative reaction doesn’t reflect the vast majority of the citizens here in Nanaimo,” Krog said.

“But it has provided an encouragement for future competition, which is healthy and good for everybody.”

The negativity isn’t dulling the excitement in the Greater Sudbury area over the dessert, which was cut into 2,400 half-pound pieces and sold in the community on Canada Day as a fundraiser for three charities supporting youth.

Ten-year-old Austin Kurtis and 15-year-old Ella Kurtis, who were part of the baking team, said people came out in droves to buy the squares, leaving no leftovers behind.

“We would sell three pieces to one individual and they’d come back maybe 20 minutes later buying five more,” Ella said.

“People really liked it,” Austin added. “I think we did a good job.”

While the fudge factory doesn’t plan to go after the record in the future, Gorham said she might make another megasized bar for a future Canada Day to satisfy the community’s “sweet tooth.”

“Sudbury really loves Nanaimo bars, so you never know,” she said.

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