This bar recipe is my favorite so far. Crumbly, sweet base, dense, smooth caramel mascarpone filling and a layer of soft caramelized apricots. It’s not an everyday combination, but it's oh soo good!

This bar recipe was born, because of a very sad reason. Our cat passed away this May. I just called her „Husi”, Chilli called her „Szellemhúsos Garfield”. Szellemhúsos isn’t a real Hungarian word, but somehow it really describes Husi. And Garfield obviously because she looked just like him. She was the cutest cat ever. She used to come to us and jump on my belly while I was lying in the sun, reading. We really miss her. :(

Back to the dessert. Chilli and I wanted to create something that reminds us of Husi and this bar was the result. I think the bright orange of the apricots looks like Husi’s fur and the sweet caramel symbolizes the personality of her. For the base I use my simple bar base as usual. This is such a good and super easy recipe, I don’t want to use anything else. Sweet, crumbly, but still holds together the filling. Perfection!

For the filling I made a batch of my homemade caramel sauce. I just looooove anything caramel. I mixed some mascarpone and heavy cream with the cold caramel sauce and it turned out amazing. Creamy, silky, dense, caramel-y. But not too sweet. You can always add less or more caramel sauce to your filling if you want to.

For the top I cooked the apricots with some brown sugar in a pan until they became soft, but not completely mushy like a jam.

Let the whole thing cool down over night, but a few hours will also do the job. You don’t have to wait that much!

Try this unusual, but super delicious bar recipe before the apricot season ends!

P.S.: Here is a photo of Husi :)

Apricot Caramel Mascarpone Bar

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Prep Time: 45 min. Baking Time: 25 min. Total Time: 2+ hours Portions: 9 bigger or 12 smaller squares

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Ingredients:

For the base:

• ½ cup or 115g butter

• ½ cup or 110g granulated sugar

• ¼ cup or 40g brown sugar

• 1 and ½ cup or 210g all purpose floura

• pinch of salt

For the caramel mascarpone filling:

• 1 cup or 225g granulated sugar

• ¼ cup or 60 ml water

• 6 tablespoons or 60g butter (cut into small pieces)

• ½ cup or 115 ml or 115g heavy cream

• 250g mascarpone

• 80 ml heavy cream

For the apricots:

• 750g apricots (pits removed)

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• ¼ cup water

Directions:

The base:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C. Line an 8-inch or 20cm square pan with parchment paper.

2. Melt the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals for around 1 minute.Add both sugars and mix it well with a fork.

3. Mix in the flour and salt until you get a dry mixture with smaller and bigger crumbs.

4. Spread the mixture in the pan and press it down with a spatula until you get a flat, packed base.

5. Bake it for 25 min or until it’s set, golden brown at the edges and holds together. Let it cool down completely.

Caramel mascarpone filling:

1. For the caramel sauce add the sugar and water into a medium sauce pan and on a medium heat stir it with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2. Stir until the sugar is all melted and it has a slightly amber colour. It gets burned easily!

3. Add the butter and stir until its melted.

4. Remove it from the heat and add the cream. Be careful, because it bubbles up and it’s really hot!

5. Put it back for one minute to the stove.

6. Remove it and stir in the salt. Let it cool down completly! I can’t say enough that it’s extremely hot so DON’T TRY it until it’s not cold enough.

7. When the caramel is cooled down whip up your heavy cream until soft peeks form.

8. Add to your mascarpone 3-5 tablespoons of your caramel sauce and fold them together with a spatula. Try it, if it’s not caramel-y enough, then add more sauce.

9. Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone in three batches.

The apricots and assembling the bar:

1. Cut your apricots into quarters. Put them into a pan with the sugar and the water. Start to heat it up on medium heat with a lid on.

2. Stir it until the water is fully evaporated and the apricots are soft. Let it cool down.

3. Spread the mascarpone filling on top of the base evenly.

4. With a spoon scoop the apricots on top of the mascarpone. Make sure you don’t add the liquid of the apricots.

5. Let it set in the fridge for 1 hour. Drizzle the leftover caramel sauce on top of it before serving.

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