Pears and Barley Revisited
My pears were kind enough to hold out long enough to give me one more attempt at this bread. With a head full of great input received on my last post [1], the formula was tinkered with (of course) and includes less whole wheat and barley, more pears and a hotter bake. It also features the twisted “tordu” shape that I clearly haven’t mastered but have a lot of fun with.
First the bad news - The bread was both underproofed and overhandled, as the crumb photo shows. The former because I didn’t do a very good job scheduling my day, and the latter because I am not very good at this shape… yet.
On the plus side – I like the new formula and the bolder bake. When the bread first cooled I wasn’t so sure, as the toasty crust flavor, while excellent, more or less overrode all the other flavors. With time, though, the flavor really changed. The sweetness of the barley and pears came through. The crust had gone soft and the whole bread a bit chewy but I just couldn’t stop gnawing on it. The rest of the family agreed. When pear season comes again next year this is the formula I will be starting with.
Marcus
****And I just spotted error in the instructions: The bread was baked for a total of 45 minutes, not 40. That extra 5 minutes made a big difference in the crust!