Mixed Stone Fruit Crumble Bars & A Glimpse Of Things To Come.

This week has been filled to the brim with cooking, baking and perhaps a little too much eating. But hey, sometimes a bit of indulgence is exactly what the baker ordered. Over this time a desperate yearning for a dishwasher has been more prevalent than ever before. I've been teaching my son Oscar to cook, but now I know I really should have been teaching him to wash the dishes instead!

Apart from fulfilling the role of dish wench all too well, I've been working on a few recipes to share with you in the near future. As I mentioned in a previous post I've been creating my own fruit version of Noah's Ark so there will be quite a few fruit based recipes on the horizon. Coming soon to a post near you: Spiced Pear & Dark Chocolate Chunk Bread. Banana, Coconut & Macadamia Muffins. Or for something a bit more savoury to wash the sugar down, a Fig, Thyme and Goats Feta Tart.

There's a few other surprises on the way but in the meantime lets talk about today's recipe. It's an adaptation of White on Rice Couple's 'Fresh Apricot Bars'. Unbelievably, I did not have enough apricots. So, my version consists of pluots, apricots and peaches but just use whatever stone fruit takes your fancy. Once I begin tweaking a recipe it just kind of avalanches, a couple of differences you'll see in this recipe are the addition of almond meal and shredded coconut. I found these flavours added some depth and textural contrast to the dish but if you're not a coconut fan (Surely this isn't possible!) then just replace it with oats and all will be well in the world.

Seeing as I have very little patience when it comes to letting food rest, even when strictly instructed to do so, I dove straight in. Let me tell you, you really, really can't get these out of the tray neatly when they're still warm. So I served it as crumble with a side of home made caramel ice cream. I dutifully put the rest of the bars in the fridge, an hour or so later they were much easier to cut and serve. The moral of the story is: if you want them to actually be bars rather than a jumbled mess, it's best to hide them in the back of the fridge and forget about them for an hour or two.

Mixed Stone Fruit Crumble Bars

Recipe adapted from White on Rice Couple's 'Fresh Apricot Bars'
Total time: 1 1/2 hours
Yield: 9-12 bars.

Ingredients

• 900g (2 lbs) Assorted stone fruit (I used apricots, pluots and peaches) 
• 2/3 cup sugar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 3/4 cup plain flour 
• 1/4 cup almond meal 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (115g) chilled butter, cubed 
• 2/3 cup rolled oats (not quick oats) 
• 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F. Grease a 2 quart baking dish, line with greaseproof paper and set aside.
2. Slice your stone fruit into slim wedges (you can remove the skin if you like but it isn't necessary).
3. Combine the stone fruit and sugar in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the fruit is soft and starting to collapse. stir through the vanilla extract.
4. Crush the fruit with a potato masher until it's the consistency of a lumpy jam. Pour into a bowl and place in the freezer to chill while you make the crust.
5. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter (or use a food processor), until it resembles coarse sand. Mix in the oats and coconut until well combined.
6. Press 2/3rds of the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread the fruit over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust over the top of the fruit.
7. Bake for 1 hour or until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature then place in the fridge for at least an hour or until it's firm enough to cut and serve. 

Can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Freezes well.