Apricot Mud Hen Cake Bars
These mud hen bars have been in my family for generations. My maternal grandmother gave this recipe to my mother, who shared it with me. I’ve been told the name comes from the speckled meringue topping that resembles the coloring of hens. —Kristine Chayes, Smithtown, New York
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- MERINGUE:
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
- 1 cup apricot preserves
Reviews
As noted in the recipe description, this is an old family recipe and it was always referred to as Mud Hen Cake Bars. I kept the title to keep it authentic. I certainly know the difference between cake and cookie bars. To those who were confused over the recipe title, please understand that this recipe dates back about 100 years. At that time, you either baked cookies or cake; the “cookie bar” designation did not exist back then. I hope this explains the recipe‘s title :)
These were delicious but these are a cookie bar. Not a cake bar. At least that is how mine turned out. The meringue topping is so good on these!
I have been watching this recipe for a while but I’ve been on a strict weight loss diet and didn’t dare have these in the house.Being in the house for so long due to Covid-19 and having a birthday I fell off the wagon today.I made ,ate and enjoyed this excellent recipe. My husband was sneaking pieces and enjoying it all day long! It was a very happy birthday ! As another reviewer mentioned, the meringue did take longer than the usual bake time I’ve used on other recipes but it was fine.
Two of my neighbors agree that this is definitely a keeper! I used strawberry preserves and plan on raspberry next time. I could have eaten the whole thing! Delish and I thought very easy. I do suggest that one use a stand up mixer instead of a hand mixer. Mine really strained and got that burning motor smell. The thinness of the crust is what really made this easy to serve! Granny Dre
I made these last night and they came out pretty good. A couple of things though... First, these do NOT make a cake, and have little relationship in flavor or texture to a cake. They are a cookie bar where the bottom crust is very reminiscent of short bread, but not so crumbly. Two egg yolks and some butter is not enough liquid to give you a "cake" and note that the recipe has no leavening.... So the "testing the cake with a toothpick when done" part of the recipe does not make a ton of sense. Essentially you get a crumbly wet "dough" that you press into the 9X13 pan like you would with other cookie bars for the bottom crust. As for "spreading" the apricot jam... I think this would be very very hard to do with cold or even room temperature jam. However, if you microwave the jam until it melts, you can pour the jam across the crust using a spatula to smooth it out very easily. The Meringue is quite good, and really does take the 15-20 minutes the recipe says to cook. I was very surprised by this since most meringues dont take that long in my experience......
I used my own homemade (canned) apricot-pineapple jam. The finished cake was delicious, moist and easy to prepared!
I haven't made this yet, but, it's March and I'm thinking rhubarb. Maybe rhubarb and strawberries. I'll stick to rhubarb for now. I can whip up a batch of jam in small quantity easily enough.
these did not work very well. the cookie/cake part never set - is the 1 1/2 cup flour correct? The taste was there but not quite right...