On Monday, July 1, 1867—two years and two weeks after Juneteenth took place in the U.S.—the British North America Act united three separate North American colonies: the Province of Canada (which was then divided into Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Together, they formed a single Dominion within the British Empire. For over a century, the holiday was known as Dominion Day—a corollary to the American Fourth of July (notably, in this case, without a war). Now it’s known as Canada Day. On Saturday, April 17, 1982, Canada gained full constitutional independence from Britain. This day is now known as Equality Day. As the transition to independence was happening, Paul and I and a small group of staff members and friends were preparing to work our fourth weekend at the Deli. If you missed celebrating either occasion, the good news is that you can still swing by the Bakeshop and grab a couple (or a couple dozen) marvelous Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies.
Since Amy Emberling, our longtime co-managing partner of the Bakehouse, is a Canadian who grew up in Sydney, Nova Scotia, we have long had a particular affinity for honoring Canadian traditions. These cookies definitely qualify—Amy has had a lifelong affection for them.
The Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies are small, but they are not an afterthought. They’re actually an important part of Canadian culture. Food writer Rosemary Molloy sums up this sweet and only slightly sticky situation beautifully:
Canada isn’t just Hockey, Maple Syrup and Poutine! Nope it’s also Maple Leaf Cookies. I guess you could call them “Canada’s National Cookie.”
I call them really good. We also call them a July Special at the Bakehouse, which means that they’re for sale every day this month!
The cookies’ history seems to go back to 1892—the same year in which a young Italian immigrant couple with the last name of Disderide arrived in Ann Arbor. A decade later, they built the building that would eventually house the Deli. Around that same time, across the Canadian border, a German immigrant named Charles Doerr began selling homemade biscuits out of his grocery store in what was then called Berlin, Ontario. As word spread, his business grew into the H.C. Doerr Company. One of his early bestsellers was a cookie shaped like a maple leaf and filled with a cream sweetened with Canada’s much-loved maple syrup. During World War I, Doerr changed the company’s name to the more English-sounding Dare. Around the same time, Berlin changed its name to Kitchener. The cookies, though, kept coming out of the oven just as they always had.
The Bakehouse crew describe the Maple Leaf Sandwich Cookies like this:
A sweet celebration of maple you’re bound to fall for. Leaf-shaped shortbread cookies made with maple syrup and maple sugar for a double dose of caramelly richness, sandwiched around a filling of maple Swiss buttercream.
Swing by the Bakehouse, hum “O Canada” as you’re getting out of the car, and grab some of these great sandwich cookies soon!
