Wachau is the region in Lower Austria where quality "marillen"/apricots are cultivated.
They call these fruits locally "marillen" .... sounds like a girl´s name but they are actually "aprikosen" in german and apricots in english.
The harvest time is between June and July and only fully riped fruits are offered in the market. Due to its nice location and a blessed weather, Wachau is hilly and ideal for the farmers not only to grow apricots but also grapes for quality wines that made the region famous.
Just have a look at this amazing view, the weather in the Wachau is perfect for apricots and grapes.. and it´s also great to bike along the Danube River for those who love this kind of sport.
Today, I´m sharing my recipe for this apricot bars using Wachau apricots. I baked this sometime in July when the fruits were available in the market but only shared now as I have very important priorities that made me so busy the las months...
.... so, I hope you´ll get your baking tins and try this yummy dessert which is so simple and easy to make.
.... so, I hope you´ll get your baking tins and try this yummy dessert which is so simple and easy to make.
....... Let´s bake !!!
Apricot Bars
Ingredients
250 g Flour
150 Sugar
100 ml Oil
100 ml water
4 Eggs
1/2 pack baking powder
1 pack vanilla sugar ( Dr. Oetker)
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Apricots
Preparations: (Preheat oven at 170°C)
1. Wash the apricots, remove the seeds and cut into halves...set aside
2. Use separate 2 containers to separate the eggs.
In the first container, beat the egg yolk, add the sugar, vanilla sugar and the lemon juice.
Beat until the mixture becomes smooth in consistency.
Using a spatula, fold in flour and the sifted baking powder to the egg yolk mixture adding
alternately water and oil.
In the 2nd container, beat the egg whites until peaks are building and become stiff folding all
carefully into the egg yolk mixture in the first container. Spread the batter in a lined rectangular
baking tin. Arrange the apricot on top of the batter.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of peach or apricot jam either in the microwave for 1 minute or under low fire until jam is liquified. Use a pastry brush to carefully pat jam on top of the apricots.
Bake under 170°C (38°F) for about 40 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Sprinkle sugar on the cake top.
Cut the cake into bars carefully and arrange on a platter.
Tip
To make sure that the cake doesn´t get too dark on top, cover the baking tin with aluminum foil during the second half of the baking time.
Enjoy baking !
