La Bamba Bars

The Los Lobos remake of "La Bamba" always reminds me of the 4th of July. The song and video must have come out in July of some year in the mid-eighties (fact-checking....yes...July 1987...thank you, IMDb). Anyway, we always spent the 4th with my mother's best friend from high school, Peggy, and her family. There are elements of these get-togethers that will always stay with me: trading up from a burger to crab legs once I got my first taste of the stuff, dripping in butter and freshly cracked from the shell; having my first (very loose) tooth yanked out by Peggy (the veteran mom with children a good decade or so older than myself and my brother); catching fireflies in the backyard; sprinklers spiking my arms with tiny stars of heat...

But I digress...so yeah,  July of 1987. I guess Peggy's kids had turned on MTV - something I didn't even know existed until that moment - and the video for "La Bamba" was on. This wasn't a huge, life-altering moment for me. It didn't change anything fundamental about me. It was just a happy song, in a happy place surrounded by friends and family in a time where I knew nothing but love. So a memory was made and now a Mexican folk song means Happy Birthday, America! to me (and probably me alone). 

Peggy died in April from cancer. It was sudden and very sad. She looked about twenty years older, thirty pounds lighter and a million times sadder than the woman I knew. But to me, she will always be, like "La Bamba," the 4th of July - eyes twinkling, head thrown back in a throaty laugh, a happy memory.

So here are the "La Bamba Cherry Bars" in celebration of all things good and in honor of Peggy C. 

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Crust

7 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plus 1 Tbs. all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

Filling

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced

1 lb. pitted cherries, sliced in half

1/4 cup toasted almonds

Crust Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper with two pieces overlapping in opposite directions so that about 2-3 inches hang over each edge.

Mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl with a rubber spatula. Add flour and salt until just incorporated. Transfer dough into lined pan and press down evenly. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden-ish. Let crust (in pan) cool on a metal rack. Keep the oven ON!

Filling Prep: Melt diced butter in small saucepan over medium heat until the butter is deep brown and smells sort of nutty. Take care to stir often and keep an eye on the butter because it will go from brown to burnt in no time. Pour browned butter into Pyrex measuring cup and allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the filling.

Whisk sugars, eggs and salt together until creamy. Add flour and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Whisk brown butter into mixture until well-blended.

Arrange cherries and almonds on top of cooled crust. Carefully pour browned butter mixture over fruit and nuts. 

Bake bars for about 30 minutes until top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from center. (you can turn the oven OFF now!) Cool in pan on rack. Remove from pan once cooled, and cut into bars of the size of your choosing.