The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Lemon barley loaf

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Lemon barley loaf

Comments

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Looks great!

I was just looking at The Handmade Loaf yesterday and thinking that is one of the recipes I should try. It sounds really interesting.

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

mmm, yum. The thought of the lemon flavor sounds so appealing. Those are great looking loaves. 70% hydration, wow, very nice job shaping.

Betty

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Thanks Floyd and Betty :-)

Yes, the lemon adds a lot to this loaf. Another one of Lepard's great recipes!

I remember eating a lot of barley bread in my childhood, but I think they somehow went out of fashion the last ten-fifteen years. It was a joy smelling and tasting the barley flavor again :-)

Hans Joakim

holds99's picture
holds99

Lovely loaf---crust and crumb.  So glad you posted these pictures and write-up.  I recently purchased Dan Lepard's interesting and unusual book and just the other day went through the book and tabbed 3 recipes (Barley & Rye, Corn Bread and Baguette) for baking.  Barley and Rye Bread now moves to the top of my "to bake" list. One thing I was curious about, in the recipe in his book is he suggests "toasting" the barley flour lightly @ 350 deg. F. for 15 minutes.  Did he have this "Tip" in the recipe that you used, and did you do toast the flour?  If so, I was wondering if you noticed a difference?  Anyway, you have made a great looking loaf, inside and out, and I really enjoy the flavor of fresh juice and zest (orange or lemon) incorporated into some breads.  I can't wait to try it.

Howard

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Thanks for your kind words! They are greatly appreciated :-)

No, I didn't toast the flour. I don't have the book, so I just took the list of ingredients from his forum (see the link in my original post), and went from there. Thanks for the additional info, however! I'll definitely try that for my next batch, and see if there are any noticeable differences. And let us know if you decide to go ahead with that procedure, Howard!

PS: If you have the book, compare the recipe to the one Dan posted on his forum before you go ahead with the bake! Here's his post:

"I do apologise - looking at the recipe it is a mistake, and I'm guessing that at some point the recipe was halved yet the leaven amount remained the same. My reasoning is that I'd never use 60% leaven in a recipe together with commercial yeast. So use this:

100g barley flour
150g strong white flour
3/4 tsp salt
75g white leaven
150g water
1 tbsp
lemon juice
zest 1
lemon
30g honey
3/4 tsp fresh yeast

This makes the total liquid (incl the half in the leaven,
lemon juice and a bit for the liquid honey) about 200g, to appx 285g flour (incl the half in the leaven) - making it about 70%

PPS: I used malted barley extract instead of honey. Both are nice, I guess :-) 

Hans Joakim

holds99's picture
holds99

Hello Hans,

Thanks for posting Dan Lepard's Lemon Barley Cob recipe.  I'm embarassed to say that I was looking at a different recipe (page 36) instead of the Lemon barley cob recipe (page 132.  Mea Culpa.  Based on your results and photos it's a winner, looks and sounds great, and I'm going to make it next. 

OK, now that I'm on the same page with you and I'm comparing your posted recipe to the recipe in the book, here goes... With the exception of the white levain (the  book shows 150g, which was corrected in your post (reduced to 75g)).  All the remaining ingredients match your posted recipe. I know you said you used malted barley extract instead of honey but the book gives 1 1/2 Tbsp. honey (12%), which I haven't calculated but presume translates to the 30g in your posted recipe.  As I said, everything else checks out.

Thanks again for posting the correction to the recipe in the book.  Here's hoping my brain shifts gears after another cup or two of coffee :>)

Howard

holds99's picture
holds99

After seeing your lovely loaves I decided to give Dan Lepards Lemon Barley recipe a try.  This is great tasting bread with lots of flavor.  In hindsight I wish I had followed your lead with an overnight retardation in the fridge, using half the final dough flour.  Next time.

That being said,  I was pleased with the results.  I doubled the recipe and made one large loaf and added 200 grams of cooked barley to the dough to give it a bit more texture and contrast and that worked out well.  You're right, it is a wet and sticky dough.  I made the mistake of letting it final proof for an hour and a half, which was about 20 minutes too long and resulted in overproofing.  It began to sink as I picked up the banneton to transfer the dough onto the peel..."Operator Trouble" :>)  Next time I'll check it after an hour. 

As you said in your post, the lemon juice and zest coupled with the barley flour and honey gives it a "lucious flavor".  I really like this bread very much.  It has terrific flavor and, for my taste, the cooked barley gives it a nice texture and, I believe, enhances the taste.  I forgot to toast the barley flour as Mr. Lepard suggests.  I'll try to remember that next time.  It's a winner.  Thanks for the nudge.

Howard

Dan Lepard's Lemon Barley Bread

    

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Howard,

I love the ingredients used in this bread and from the images I've seen lately it looks very, very nice.  Wonderful loaves of bread you make and always a 'twist' to them...meaning they are so interesting in one way or another...including the lemon in this one.

You made a light bulb come on with this image of your bread and oval banneton.

Last night as I was placing my two loaves of Pain au Levain onto my peel from my linen lined bowl and my one and only round cane banneton...I kept wishing I had the oval ones...and keep wondering why I just don't go ahead and order a couple of more.....so much handier....especially since in the middle of placing them on my peel....our little nightly visitor came!!  I put the  3 dog's out...wanting them out of my way...I had to drop everyting and run outside and chase the possum away...he runs along the top of the iron fence that runs along every neighbors back yard...he loves perching under my big peppertree that overhangs the fence...the dogs go nuts!  Anyway, I could have loaded these into the oven, steamed and been a lot quicker if not for fussing with the linen lined bowl....you should have seen this operation, the stuck linen, peel, lid, steamer, broom, flashlight.  I managed to put the lid on backwards...aside from that everything managed not to badly....chased the possum away...he's hugh bigger than a cat and looks so funny running on top of this narrow fence...he's really pretty...my husband says there are two of them! 

Well, your banneton looks like it's a woven constructed one....I have crocheted  a couple of fabric baskets....Soooo why not a linen one!...I could do any shape...I t can be easily dried....I just see this as being a wonderful idea...what do you think...can you tell me has this already been done?  Linen crochet bannetons?  I would love to see a larger picture of your banneton used in this display or your Lemon barley bread.

Sylvia 

holds99's picture
holds99

Sylvia,

You'll have to try the Lemon Barley Bread, it's great bread and fun to make.  It's really different in taste and texture.  Very moist and extremely subtle tastes of lemon juice, zest, and honey mingled with the taste of the barley flour.  As I said, it's a winnner. 

I love the Possum story.  We live on the marsh and have lots of critters; possum, racoons, armadillos, etc. the racoons roam around at night raiding the neighborhood bird feeders and the armadillos root around digging up the yards looking for food in the form of grub worms.

The bannetons/brotforms are actually cloth rope.  My wife found them in a crafts shop and bought 2 of them, which I use for large 2+ pound oval shaped loaves.  Here's a photo that I hope helps you see how its constructed.  I guess you could buy some rope and just sew it together with dental floss and a canvas needle in the form you want.

Cloth Rope BrotformsCloth Rope Brotforms

Howard

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Wonderful story about your critters...really enjoyed it.....being Irish I do tend to ramble on a story...just to say how a brothform would come in handy in a pinch...posted to you about the brothforms under  your other display...can't thank you and your wife enough.

Sylvia

Eli's picture
Eli

Those are great! It would have never occured to me to use those.

I am going to look around because I have seen some in a store nearby.

Thanks,

Eli