Danish Dream Cake for Mark

On Friday, it was my manager, Mark's, last day at work.  Mark is of Danish heritage, so I decided to make him a cake that reflected that.

 
As one of Mark's leaving gifts, we bought him a copy of The New Nordic cookbook by Simon Bajada, which included a recipe for Danish Dream Cake with Barley and Berries.  Brilliant!  This is what I decided to make.

Danish Dream Cake has a sponge base studded with berries, and topped with a caramelised grain topping.  I used red currants for the berries, having stashed them in the freezer earlier in the year for such an occasion as this to use them (as they are rare as hen's teeth and expensive in Australia). 

 

I didn't have barley flakes for the topping, so I used the alternative suggested of porridge oats.  The recipe also called for dark malt as an optional addition - I didn't have any and didn't notice it was optional, because I was on the phone while I was making it.  So, I unnecessarily added golden syrup, thinking that might make up for the malt. Oh well, it didn't seem to harm anything.

 

Here is Mark carving up this rather sturdy cake:

 

 

Here's a peek inside:

and here is a slice of cake showing clearly all of the elements:

If you like caramel, sponge and berries, you will love this Danish cake.