Like a honey bee returning to the hive, Gourmet Jack went visiting The Rose Collection once more. The collection has many delicious cookie and cake recipes that we came to know well growing up. It was not unusual to come home from school to yummies on the kitchen table and the house totally permeated with the smells of the daily baking. It’s difficult to make a choice from the collection because there are so many, but, trust me, we will get to as many of them as we can. It is a great sensation to recreate the baking aromas many years after first experiencing them.
Today, we are going to put together a fabulous soft but firm bar with a lemon icing (frosting) that will come in handy for other cookie projects.
Apricot Date Bar with Lemon Icing
This is an original recipe from the Brown Book in the Rose Collection. A very simple treat to prepare, and one that Jack guarantees won’t last very long after it hits the table.
Ingredients (Yields 16 2" square bars)
Bars
¾ cup dried apricots
¼ tsp salt
1 cup dessicated coconut
½ cup chopped, pitted dried dates
1 cup sugar
6 ozs melted butter (substitue OK)
2 cups self raising flour
Icing
1/3 cup melted butter
4½ cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1½ tsp vanilla essence
½ tsp finely shredded lemon peel
Bars
• Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºc)
• Grease or lightly butter 8" X 8" cake pan
• Soak apricots in hot water for 30 minutes
• Drain and chop apricots
• Mix first group of ingredients together. Mix well
• Add flour and mix to a dough like consistency (lumpy)
• Spoon entire mixture into the greased pan. Spread evenly in cake pan
• Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Test with toothpick and make sure it comes out clean.
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire tray to completely cool.
• When cool, cut into 2" squares
• Squares can set and firm up while making the icing
Icing
• Beat butter in a mixing bowl until it is fluffy
• Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar gradually, beating constantly
• Slowly beat in lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon peel
• Slowly beat in the rest of the sugar to a spreadable consistency (Add more lemon juice if necessary)
• Use immediately
Assembly
• Add lemon icing to the top of each bar (It will drip down the sides)
• Icing will harden quickly
• Repeat 15 times.
SERVE and ENJOY
