pearl barley & berry cake

Deuteronomy 8:7-9 – For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

I’ve been on a bit of a barley bender the last few weeks. Barley in soup, salads, burritos.

barley berry cake

Why not cake?

Pearl Barley & Berry Cake
Serves 8

This recipe is based on Dan Lepard’s (of the Guardian UK) Barley & Berry Pudding. I made it in cake form to be more suitable for the cafe, but I imagine it’s even better as a pudding. It’s a slightly stodgy cake, best served warm with a dollop of yogurt. The pearls of barley tend to go quite crisp towards the edges which make for an interesting bite. This is a great way to use up leftover barley that has cooled and dried out a little in the fridge.

150g (2/3 cup) butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 medium eggs
1/2 cup natural, unsweetend yoghurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cooked pearl barley, well drained and let cool
1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholewheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups frozen berries

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Lightly spray a 20cm cake tin (or a pudding dish) with baking spray and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until slightly fluffy, then beat in the eggs until smooth. Stir in the yoghurt and vanilla, then fold in the barley, flour and baking powder until evenly mixed. Pour (or more likely dollop) half of the batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle over a layer of frozen berries (half of them). Repeat with batter and berries. Bake for about 45 minutes, just until a skewer comes out clean.

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