Guest Author - Anita Burroughs

Apricot Raspberry Almond Bars

These bars are very elegant and easy to make, despite having three separate parts to the recipe. You can really choose any type of jam you like to make these, although I would recommend the best quality jam you can afford. It really makes a difference in the end product. I personally love Stonewall Farm jams which are popular on the east coast, but any brand you like will work.

Here is the recipe:

For the crust:
¾ cup unsalted butter
1.5 cups unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup confectioners sugar
1 cup of finely ground almonds (you can also use almond flour if you like)
1 teaspoon almond extract
¾ teaspoon salt

For the filling:
1 cup almond paste (usually available in the baking section of your supermarket, sold in a can)
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (I tried using Panko once with this recipe, which are Japanese dried bread crumbs. The recipe bombed with this, so do use fresh, soft white bread crumbs. Simply place fresh white bread without the crusts in a food processor or blender to make the crumbs)
¾ cup apricot preserves, warmed (or use raspberry or another flavor of your choice)

For the Topping
¾ cup chopped almonds
¾ cup of the crust mixture, reserved from making the crust

Preheat your oven to 350, and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Now make the crust. In a medium sized bowl combine all of the crust ingredients and mix until the mixture looks crumbly. Set aside ¾ cup of this mixture for the topping, and press the rest evenly into your baking pan.

Now make your filling. In a clean bowl, mix together the almond paste, sugar and one of the eggs until smooth. Now stir in your other egg, salt and the white bread crumbs. Spread this mixture over the crust and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the filling looks just set. Take out the pan and top with the warmed preserves.

Now mix your almonds and reserved crust mixture together and sprinkle this over the filling and warmed preserves. Return your bars to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until the bars and lightly browned and the preserves have started to bubble Cool the bars completely before cutting.

Makes approximately 24 bars.