Apple And Cherry Bars - cooking recipe

Ingredients

200 g butter, diced
100 g icing sugar
6 None eggs, 5 of them separated
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
375 g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
100 g ground hazelnuts
4-5 None red-skinned apples, cored, finely sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice
100 g cherry jam
125 g caster sugar
3 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp apricot jam

Preparation

To make the pastry, mix together butter, powdered sugar, 1 egg, pinch of salt, cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder and ground hazelnuts. Knead pastry with floured hands until smooth. Wrap in foil and leave to chill for 30 mins. Meanwhile, sprinkle sliced apples with lemon juice.
Preheat oven to 350\u00b0F. Press pastry evenly into a greased 12 x 15 inch baking pan. Cover pastry base with a smooth coating of cherry jam.
Beat egg whites, 4 tbsp water and pinch of salt until stiff, adding 1 tsp vanilla extract and the sugar while beating. Whisk egg yolks and fold into the egg whites in 2 batches. Sift remaining flour, cornstarch and 1 tsp baking powder and fold into mixture.
Spread mixture evenly over the jam and cover with apple slices. Bake for 25 mins on bottom rack of oven. Bring apricot jam and 2 tbsp water to a boil. Strain through a fine sieve and brush on top of apples. Leave slice to cool on a wire rack for 2 hours, then cut into 20 pieces.