After hosting Thanksgiving dinner, Tom and I have of course been faced with the problem of having leftovers. Not only do we have quite a bit of turkey and sides still taking up room in the fridge (fortunately, I was at least able to send most of the leftover cheesecake home with some friends), but we also have a surplus of fresh herbs on hand. I decided that having some extra rosemary was a great excuse to try the recipe for "Rosemary Apricot Bars" from Baked Explorations. The recipe was fresh in my mind because former Chez Panisse pastry chef David Lebovitz blogged about it a couple of weeks ago.
The apricot filling in this recipe does not come from a jar of store-bought preserves, but is home made. You combine dried apricots, sugar, honey, brandy, salt, and water in a pot, and simmer the mixture for 40 to 50 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. After running it through the food processor, the filling is opaque and much thicker and more flavorful than preserves. I used dried California Blenheim apricots, and the filling was quite tangy but delicious.
The rosemary shortbread crust (flour, salt, minced rosemary, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla) is pressed into a pan and chilled before being baked until it's golden brown. After the crust has cooled, you spread on the apricot filling, sprinkle over a crumb topping (flour, dark brown sugar, pecans, salt, and cold butter), and return the bars to the oven until the topping is browned.
This is a very pretty bar. Although I baked the rosemary crust alone until the top was golden brown, as you can see in the photo above, the interior of the crust was very pale and hardly colored at all. Also, the crust is very tender and crumbly, and most of the bars suffered some minor breakage along the edges during cutting. The crust is definitely rosemary-flavored, although the flavor doesn't dominate the bar. In my mind, this bar barely qualifies as a dessert -- it is not particularly sweet, and the herbaceous flavor of the rosemary gives the bar a savory quality.
But don't let that deter you! This bar is definitely different from your run of the mill dessert, but savory or sweet, it's a fresh and delicious treat.
The apricot filling in this recipe does not come from a jar of store-bought preserves, but is home made. You combine dried apricots, sugar, honey, brandy, salt, and water in a pot, and simmer the mixture for 40 to 50 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. After running it through the food processor, the filling is opaque and much thicker and more flavorful than preserves. I used dried California Blenheim apricots, and the filling was quite tangy but delicious.
The rosemary shortbread crust (flour, salt, minced rosemary, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla) is pressed into a pan and chilled before being baked until it's golden brown. After the crust has cooled, you spread on the apricot filling, sprinkle over a crumb topping (flour, dark brown sugar, pecans, salt, and cold butter), and return the bars to the oven until the topping is browned.
This is a very pretty bar. Although I baked the rosemary crust alone until the top was golden brown, as you can see in the photo above, the interior of the crust was very pale and hardly colored at all. Also, the crust is very tender and crumbly, and most of the bars suffered some minor breakage along the edges during cutting. The crust is definitely rosemary-flavored, although the flavor doesn't dominate the bar. In my mind, this bar barely qualifies as a dessert -- it is not particularly sweet, and the herbaceous flavor of the rosemary gives the bar a savory quality.But don't let that deter you! This bar is definitely different from your run of the mill dessert, but savory or sweet, it's a fresh and delicious treat.
Recipe: "Rosemary Apricot Squares" from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.
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