Pie can be scary. I made this unhappy discovery at age 2, standing unsteady and tear-streaked in the family Volkswagen bus. I had pie in hand, fierce resistance on face. No way.
The problem was this: too much middle. The crust looked safe, but underneath lurked a sinkhole of goo. Scary.
Making pie can be scary too. It takes practice to get the fruit to set neither runny nor gummy and the pastry to bake up both flaky and reliable. My first pie -- cracked, craggy, congealed -- lives on in family lore. Not the good kind of lore.
Which might be why the fruit bar is such a pleasure. It's like pie, but simpler, smaller and sturdier. Plus the low- lying bar has an admirable outer-to-inner ratio, about 1:1, leaving nothing to pout about.
Raspberry Apricot Bars
Filling:
2 cups raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
3 cups cubed apricots (about 6 apricots)
Topping:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup pecan halves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
12 tablespoons butter, cut up
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
For the filling:
In a mixing bowl, sprinkle raspberries with sugar. Mash with a fork. Stir in apricots. Set aside.
For the topping: In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Add pecans, salt and nutmeg and cook, stirring, until butter is speckled brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, then flour. Chill.
For the crust, measure flour, sugar and salt into the food processor. Pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse to big clumps.
Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving some overhang. Lightly coat paper with butter. Dump in crust mixture and pat into bottom of pan. Poke several times with a fork. Bake until pastry is lightly golden, about 20 minutes.
Spread fruit over pastry. Sprinkle on chilled topping -- fruit will not be fully covered. Return pan to oven and bake until fruit is bubbly and top is browned, about 40 minutes. Cool completely. Using the parchment overhang as handles, remove from pan and cut into 24 bars.
Food on 07/16/2014