Strawberry Summer Cake

My family is officially in love with this cake.  

Grant has a lovely uncle and aunt (Hi Larry and Sally!) who live on the West Coast and are huge fans of Bob's Red Mill and their products. On occasion they get to go to an actual Bob's Red Mill store in Oregon and have sent us goodies from there several times.   

A few weeks ago, I was browsing around on Smitten Kitchen and was intrigued by her recipe for Strawberry Summer Cake. It sounded pretty simple, but there was one ingredient that took me by surprise. 

Barley Flour.  

I have never seen barley flour anywhere, heard of anyone using it, or seen any recipes including it.  Ever.

Hmmm.

I wondered if it really made a difference in the cake or not, wondered if I should just try making the cake with all regular or whole wheat flour.  

Then I got an email from Aunt Sally.  She said they were going to the Bob's Red Mill store the next day and wanted me to pick some products that I would like to try.  

Barley flour was right up there on the list, as this cake was fresh on my mind.  Honestly, I never would have even considered barley flour otherwise.  

They sent me a wonderful box full of all my ideas, far exceeding my expectations.  So much fun!  

I'm busy experimenting with millet flour and spelt flour too...but more on that another time.

So, I've made the cake twice in a week now, both times including the barley flour.  It is just so delicious.  

I'm sure I'll be trying it with other berries as well, raspberries, maybe blueberries or blackberries, maybe combinations, maybe peaches.  But it will be hard to beat the strawberries.

By the way, the cake didn't slice well for me either time, but it was so delicious nobody cared.  We like it with vanilla ice cream.  

Recipe: (from Smitten Kitchen)

6 T. butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

1 large egg

1/2 c. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

3/4 c. white whole wheat flour 

3/4 c. barley flour (or all purpose flour)

1-1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 lb. strawberries, washed and hulled

2 T. sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter a 9" cake pan or deep dish pie pan (I haven't tried it, but apparently a regular 9" pie pan will overflow).  

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add egg, milk, and vanilla.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, barley flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter mixture and combine well.  Spread into greased pan.  

Slice the berries in half (or if you're a bit short on berries, into thin slices) and distribute evenly over the cake batter.  Sprinkle with 2 T. sugar. 

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temp. to 325° and continue to bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.