As you read this we’ll be on a plane to Copenhagen. We are spending the weekend there with a whole bunch of family. Luise is showing us around. She has lived almost four years in Sweden now, but loves to go back and visit her old hometown. We are also meeting up with one of our favorite bloggers, Sarah B of My New Roots. Yay!
Before we left I prepared these treats. I actually started making them without knowing what I would end up with. My only plan was to pair apricots with grapefruit. And to make something very uncomplicated. Maximum four ingredients. I kind of expected that I would end up with raw apricot bars. But after blending the ingredients together, the consistency felt a bit too loose so I decided to bake them. A while in the oven was exactly what was needed. Out came these golden sticky bite-sized toffee bars. I chose to make them small since I think normal size bars can be a bit too heavy sometimes. These are the perfect size.
The flavors came out exactly as I hoped. Naturally sweet, flavorful and with just a hint of tartness. Pack them as a snack or for a children’s birthday party. I can also imagine that this recipe (minus the baking) would be perfect as a raw cake topping or filling.
Before we leave you with these indulgent snacks, we just want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have downloaded our app Green Kitchen. We are so grateful and overwhelmed by your support and kind notes. The Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald has recently included Green Kitchen in their list of the 25 best iPad apps. Apple has featured it on their New & Noteworthy sections worldwide. And right now it is App of the Week in the Scandinavian App Stores. We have already sent an update to Apple with 6 more recipes and we also corrected some sloppy spelling mistakes (sorry about that!). We expect them to approve it any day now. So more recipes are on there way.
We will be back next week with some photos from a (hopefully) sunny Copenhagen.
Apricot & Grapefruit Toffee
Makes around 40 bite-sized bars or 12 larger
You can of course swap the almonds for other nuts and the grapefruit juice for any other citrus juice. If you have a very powerful blender or very soft apricots, you don’t have to soak them.
1 1/2 cup (250 g) dried apricots
1 cup grapefruit juice (approx. 1 grapefruit)
1/2 cup (100 g) roasted almonds
2 tbsp dried shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1. Start by soaking the apricots in 1 cup grapefruit juice for 3 hours.
2. Roast the almonds on 300F (150°C) for 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oven (leave the heat on), and add them to a blender or food processor. Pulse for 20 seconds, until the almonds have turned into a coarse flour. Pour it in a cup and set aside.
3. Add the grapefruit soaked apricots to the blender, together with half of the remaining juice. Pulse until everything has turned into a sticky mess. If the apricots won’t blend, try adding some more of the remaining juice.
4. Add the almonds and the shredded coconut to the blender and pulse until everything is combined into a sticky mixture.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mixture out on it. Use a spatula to form the mixture into a rectangle, around 1/2 inch (1 1/2 cm) high.
6. Bake on 300F (150°C) for 20 mins. Remove from the heat, cut them into preferred size and put them back into the oven for 7-8 minutes more. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
7. When warm they will still be a bit loose. But if you wait until they cool off they will become firmer.
8. Wrap them in wrapping paper and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Eat them within a week.
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