Microwave Mascarpone Apricot Cornbread and My Weekend Trip to Portland

Microwave Mascarpone Apricot Cornbread – apricot and cornbread were just made for each other and it’s ready in 10 minutes. 

I had a blast this past weekend! Hubby had a trip to Portland for work and, for once, I got to tag along! He’s usually off to fun places eating fancy dinners with suppliers and sending me photos of all the things he eats without me. (I know his work trips are mostly work and not much fun, but I can’t help but wish I could eat the food he gets treated to!) My cousin, a friend from college, and my foodie twin all took turns sharing their favorite food and places with me in Portland. I had so much good beer, so many treats and so many different foods that I had never tried before. My stomach and tongue definitely rejoiced.  

One of the most fascinating the me was the South Indian food (top left) from a food cart on Mississippi St. called Tiffin Asha. It’s a plate with Idli, fried savory doughnuts made of dal, a paper dosa, and romanesco curry. I’d never had anything like it before. Those puffy dal donuts were melt-away bites of heaven. Also pictured is some Bourbon-aged hard apple cider, a vanilla hot chocolate with scratch made marshmallows, and my favorite breakfast of the weekend: bacon, cheese, and runny egg on a hard roll from Bunk Sandwiches. I’ve got a bunch more great photos from Portland and behind the scenes blog and life shots if you follow me on Instagram. It’s my favorite social media, and I’d love to connect with you there!

My foodie twin, Leslie, lives in Portland now, and she took Friday off of work to take me on a whirlwind day of breakfast, hot tubbing, a flavored salt tasting, sampling gourmet bitters, south Indian food (above), a brown butter bourbon cherry ice cream sandwich on salted almond cookies, vanilla hot chocolate with scratch made marshmallows, stash teas, a myriad of boutique shops, and we ended the night with food truck fried chicken tenders topped with Tilamook cheese. It was possibly one of the best foodie days of my life. I call her my foodie twin because we have similar palates and love playing off of each other’s recipe ideas. We actually came up with so many different, amazing recipe ideas that I’m hoping to have her here as a guest contributor in the new year. I can’t wait!    

This mascarpone apricot cornbread is a fun twist on the traditional with little bits of dried apricot speckled throughout. The mascarpone, a creamy Italian soft cheese that’s similar to cream cheese, makes it bake up light and fluffy. If you do this in the microwave, it’s ready to go just before dinner. If you plan to make it ahead and serve it later, you probably want to bake it in the oven because microwaved cakes tend to dry out fairly quickly. Especially if you live in the super-dry climate of Colorado. (Portland I miss your humidity already!!) 

Microwave Mascarpone Apricot Cornbread

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• Author: Stephanie Powers
• Prep Time: 2
• Cook Time: 8
• Total Time: 10

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Description

Microwave Mascarpone Apricot Cornbread – apricot and cornbread were just made for each other and you only need 10 minutes.

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Ingredients

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• 1 (8.5oz) box cornbread mix (I use Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix-see notes for other brands)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3/4 cup dried apricots, finely diced
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

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Instructions

1. Combine above ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Thoroughly grease a 9in round or 8in x 8in microwave safe baking dish.
3. Invert a microwave safe plate inside the microwave.
4. Pour batter into the baking dish and place in microwave on top of the inverted plate.
5. Microwave on high for 8-9 minutes, or until cornbread is no longer sticky.
6. Serve immediately.

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Notes

• Don’t want to use Jiffy? You can use any box mix you like. Just use the amount of milk and eggs called for by your mix in place of those in this recipe. Since most other mixes are 15oz, you may want to double the mascarpone and apricots to match and use a larger baking dish.
• No microwave? Just bake in yur oven as directed on the package of mix.
• Gluten-free: Use a gluten-free mix. (Jiffy contains gluten.)
• Vegetarian: This is vegetarian.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 9