Barley Flour Cake with Chocolate Frosting - MAITRI friendship chain

Hello everyone,

Till now I had posts that used to speak about "Maitri", the mystery ingredient and passing it to 2 other bloggers.. But here I've something that initiates "Maitri" and declares that this friendship chain is functional from now onwards.. Many bloggers have shown their interest and we've listed them in our records.. I'm happy for this huge participation and looking forward to many more. I believe that most of us are aware of Arusuvai friendship chain and now they are running the second season of this chain.. I hope we will also make Maitri grow tremendously.

I agree the situation in USA is bit different from India. We've certain concerns and limited resources that restrain us from getting involved. When Priya & I discussed about this idea even we were concerned about the similar situations. And finally we decided to make it happen. I would encourage everybody in USA to be part of this chain..

To all those who haven't read about "Maitri" yet, please click here.

So, now with great pleasure let me explain how we initiated Maitri. It begin with Priya & I sending parcel to each other. Last Friday, I received my box of mystery. Well I was excited from the day when I was informed by Priya that she has mailed my package.. Wow!! I used to wonder what would be the mystery ingredient and I donno what is she going to send me.. Out of curiosity, even I did research on her blog and I was pretty sure she would send me something related to rajasthani cuisine.

On Friday, around 2:00 pm, I went out to check my mailbox and there I found this small box by USPS.. I rushed to my apartment and I was so excited that while I was opening box and taking out all the stuffs, I forgot that I'm supposed to take pics of everything sent to me.. Then what?????? I loaded everything back into the box and here are the pics of "Box", "mystery ingredient" and "very cute goodies" sent by Priya Mitharwal...

Box & the mystery ingredient...!!!

Salt - Pepper Shakers & Spoon Rest!!! Love you Priya, they are so cute....

Now coming to my experience with mystery ingredient.. Before this can u guys identify what was sent by Priya..

Well, at very first look I felt it is Whole Wheat and I checked with Priya.. After 2 hrs she replied "No!!" with a big happy smiley.. But now what to do?? I tasted one of the grains and realized that it is not Whole Wheat... It is "Barley"!!!!!!! I was so happy and sure as well that this time I'm not wrong.. Again I emailed Priya and checked with her.. After 2 hrs she replied "u r genius" with a big sad smiley... ;)

I did lots of research to prepare something special and delicious with this ingredient. I bookmarked some breakfast recipes, then went for brownies and finally ended up with Cake.. And here is the picture of "Barley Flour Cake with Chocolate Frosting" and this is dedicated to Maitri and to all of my blogger friends.. Do grab your piece of cake.. :P

I'm not a good baker so my cake is not with perfect finishing but yes it tasted awesome.. Of course, how can something prepared with all those gr8 ingredients can go wrong. The Barley flour gave a different flavor to cake and with thick chocolate frosting and marshmallow fondant red balls, it was simply irresistible.

Also, this cake is special for me because for the first time I've worked with frosting.. And yeah you guys can see the frosting is not applied perfectly.. But I love this look.... ;)

So, guys lets move on to recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups barley flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup oil
3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla

for icing

3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F for about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk the barley flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the center of the bowl, make a well and add oil, egg yolks and vanilla. Beat with spoon until smooth.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold a fourth of the whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest.

Generously grease the baking pan. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool for 20 minutes in the pan. Run a paring knife around the edges and then invert it onto a cake plate.

Meanwhile, prepare icing for the cake. In a work bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter. Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together and slowly add to the butter, beating well after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until well blended and fluffy.

Once the cake has cooled down to room temperature, frost it with chocolate frosting.

I had store-bought marshmallow fondant with me. So I added red color to it and kneaded well to get fondant evenly colored. Make tiny balls with fondant and decorate over the cake.

You can decorate your cake in number of ways but this was the least time-taking one.

Those who are interested to be part of Maitri, do leave a comment or email me at reshrite@gmail.com or priya at priya.mitharwal@gmail.com.

Sending this as an entry to Treat to Eyes: Series 2 event hosted by rumana.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!