by Mary Bailey
Summer means road trips and that means car snacks.
What do you like to take on trips? A friend of ours makes a little cheese and meat tray, slides it onto the console and calls it carcuterie. Our friends at Awn Kitchen make a delicious lunch with all the food groups, along with proper napkins.
Unfortunately, if I’m left up to my own devices, my car snacks usually involve a bottle of water, an apple and maybe a bag of Hawkins Cheezies. Yes, I could do better.
The new Rimrock Banff and the Fairmont Banff Springs have a decidedly different approach—luxurious, healthy or hedonistic, take your pick, and no cheese dust. If your plans don’t involve a stay at one of these exceptional properties this summer, at least you can enjoy some of the snacks.
Garuharu pastry chef Eunyoung Yun teaches the art of travel cakes to Fairmont Rimrock staff
Rimrock Banff Travel Cake
The gâteau de voyage popularized in France for train travel has been taken to new heights by pastry chef Eunyoung Yun. At Garuharu, her Seoul bakery and pastry school, the travel cake has been elevated—still moist, dense and easy-to-handle—with beautiful seasonal ingredients, modern shapes and profound flavours. Rimrock Banff brought chef to teach their pastry kitchen how to make these delectable cakes using seasonal and local ingredients, especially mountain honey. The result? Heaven.
The Fairmont Gold Floor at the Fairmont Banff Springs offered delicious in-room amenities ready to take on a trek, or to nibble on while looking out the window. Exec chef Atticus Garant sent us the recipes. These power balls are full of flavour, not sweet, dense, super filling and full of fibre.
Black Sesame Power Balls
| 115 g | toasted cashews |
| 55 g | toasted oats |
| 180 g | medjool dates (scale before pitted, then remove pits) |
| 30 g | black sesame puree |
| 2 pinches | (generous) Maldon salt |
| 2-3 T | water |
| seasame seeds for rolling |
Toast cashews and oats at 170ºC for about 7 minutes
Put everything but the water in the blender. Mix until it’s a fine powder. Add the water and mix until it becomes a paste. Shape into balls of about 30 grams each and roll in sesame seeds.
Raspberry Power Balls
| 85 g | oats |
| 75 g | pumpkin seeds |
| 16 g | dehydrated raspberry granules (powdered) |
| 180 g | medjool dates (scale before pitted, then remove pits) |
| 50 g | dehydrated dry blueberries |
| 2 t | beetroot powder |
| 2 pinches | Maldon salt |
| 2 t | vanilla paste |
| 2-3 T | water |
Toast the pumpkin and oats at 170ºC for about 7 minutes.
Put the raspberry granules in the blender and blend until they become a fine powder. Add everything else but the water to the blender. Mix again to powder stage. Add the water and mix until it forms a paste.
Roll into balls of about 30 grams each. Then roll in more raspberry granule powder to finish.
Fairmont Gold Trail Mix
This fruit and nut mix is beyond your usual gorp (granola, oats, raisins, peanuts and maybe chocolate chips). The recipe can be halved easily.
| 500 g | slivered almonds |
| 150 g | raw pistachios |
| 100 g | almond powder |
| 200 g | pumpkin seeds |
| 100 g | flax seeds |
| 50 g | dried blueberries |
| 50 g | dried currants |
| 50 g | dried apricot slices |
| 50 g | goji berries |
| 50 g | Alberta honey, melted |
| 100 g | toasted coconut flakes |
Preheat oven to 160ºC.
Mix all the ingredients but the toasted coconut flakes and bake for 20-30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and add the coconut flakes. Enjoy right away or store in a cool dry place for up to 2 weeks.
Rimrock Banff pastry chef Thibaut Hannois show us the custom travel cake container.
Chef Yung’s Cookbook
