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Ingredients:
 The concept for this dish started out as a kind of PB&J ravioli, with the peanut butter forming the "pasta" and the jelly inside. Through a series of conversations and flashes of brilliance (or madness, you be the judge) it evolved into a full-on inversion of the usual PB&J system. The filling for this dessert is candied barley, a sort of crunchy bread analogue. The barley is sandwiched between two slices of peanut butter gelatin, and the whole is topped with macerated fruit to replace the jelly. The result is a not-too-sweet peanut buttery morsel that hopefully expands our definition for the word sandwich.
Peanut Butter Gelatin
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
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Step 1:
 Macerated Strawberries
1 pound strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
Candied Barley
Sorry, no picture, but this stuff is pretty boring anyhow.
3/4 cup pearl barley
3 cups water
5 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Step 2:
 Peanut Butter Gelatin:
Bloom the gelatin in 1/2 cup water.
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Step 3:
 Combine the peanut butter and remaining 1.5 cups water and bring to a boil, whisking to combine.
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Step 4:
 Combined:
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Step 5:
 Add the peanut butter solution to the bloomed gelatin and stir vigorously until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
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Step 6:
 Pour into a small baking pan to approx. 1cm depth and chill.
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Step 7:
 Macerated Strawberries:
Slice the strawberries as desired and mix with the sugar.
Stir occasionally for 15-20 minutes, then chill until serving time. The strawberries will release more juice as time goes on.
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Step 8:
 Candied Barley:
Cook the barley in a rice cooker or over the stove. Typical stovetop cooking time is around 45 minutes to an hour. Once the barley is cooked (but preferably still warm), put the sugar into a saute pan over medium-high heat. Shake frequently, and begin stirring as the sugar liquefies. Once it browns a bit, add the butter and stir until the butter has melted and the caramel is fully liquid. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.
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Step 9:
 Add the still-warm barley. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently. The caramel is likely to seize up into chunks when the barley is added, but dedicated stirring and cooking will cause it to relax and coat each grain of barley.
Once most of the caramel has applied itself to the barley, move to a baking sheet. If you let this cool, it will get somewhat soggy. For that reason I recommend assembling the dessert immediately after candying the barley. If you need to do this in advance, a quick refresh in a hot pan will restore some of the crunch (but also dry out the barley somewhat).
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Step 10:
 Assembly:
Unmold the peanut butter gelatin (hot water over the bottom of the pan helps with this) and cut out small rounds with whatever round-thing-cutting apparatus you have.
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Step 11:
 Plate, beginning with gelatin, then a nice layer of still-warm barley, then the second layer of gelatin. Top and garnish with macerated strawberries. The barley will melt a bit of the gelatin, leaving the inside of the dessert soft and gooey while the outside remains nicely firm. Crunchy bits of caramel stuck to the barley adds another textural contrast.
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Step 12:
 Closeup of the Inside Out Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.
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Step 13:
 Another close up:
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