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I've been looking at a recipe for Orange Barley Pound Cake that I saw in the April 2016 issue of Martha Stewart Living. Here's the link to the recipe on the website.
http://www.marthastewart.com/1146652/orange-barley-pound-cake
I'm attracted by the use of barley flour, and I have plenty on hand. One thing that gives me pause, however, is that in the pictures, even with the glaze on top to cover it, the bread clearly is sunk in the middle. It is made in a 9x5 inch loaf pan. I'm wondering if the recipe is in balance. I checked reviews, but there was only a single, not particularly helpful one. It might be that the bread needs to be baked in one of those longer, narrow loaf pans, or maybe a small Bundt pan? I'd probably delete the frosting, as the bread seems sweet enough without it.
So, bakers, what do you think? I wish Kid Pizza were here to chime in.
Great News: Kid Pizza is feeling better and has posted the following reply on Zen's (Pyewacket's) site:
BAKERAUNT:
Good morning my friend. Marliss I read somewhere you were looking for me. Because you had a slight baking disappointment recently in baking a "ORANGE BARLEY (flour) POUND CAKE.Marliss I scrutinized this recipe that you provided. You are so correct. TOO sweet more sugar than required one reason it exceeds the weight of the flour. The dip in it's top surface most often has to do with the LEAVENERS. Not all the time but most often. In this case I will provide free of charge 2 choices. 1(a) reduce the bkg powder to 1,1/4 tsp....2(b) reduce bkg powder to 1, tsp & add 1/8th tsp of bkg soda (remember Marliss 1/8th tsp is 1/2 of 1/4 tsp. Marliss, one more thing. your posted ??? about the size of the 9 X 5 X 3, in pan is adequate but I believe a 8,1/2 X 4,1/2 X 2.5, inch pan is better.
I've not actually baked the recipe yet, since it seemed not quite right. I will bake it this week, following Cass's suggestions and let everyone know how it comes out.
Tonight I baked this cake. The 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 pan was a tad small but the 9x5 would have been too large. It rose a bit quickly around the edges, even a bit over the pan, before the middle caught up with it. The bread has a slight dome--no collapsed center--but it does have a bit of a "line" in the center. If I bake it again, I will measure my pans and see if I have one that is just a bit larger.
I used the 1 tsp of baking powder and 1/8 tsp of baking soda, as Kid Pizza suggested in option 2. I used Baker's (extra fine) sugar, educing the amount by 1 oz. as recommended, and used my microplane grater to make the orange zest rather than using the food processor. (Unlike the MS Living Kitchens, I do not have sous chefs to clean extra dishes.) I also added 1/4 tsp orange extract, as I do not plan to ice it.
The baking time specified was 1 hour 15 minutes, but it was done at 1 hour, 5 min. If I bake it again, I will check after an hour. It does brown quickly on top, so I had foil over it for the final 5 minutes. The recipe said to let it rest in the pan for 30 minutes. I took it out after 20, and that seems fine.
We will cut it and taste it tomorrow, and I will add to this reply our thoughts on the taste and texture.
Update: The cake has perfect texture. It is not dry, and it does not need the frosting. It has a kind of melt in the mouth taste. As my husband said, "It's easy to eat too much of this cake, it is just so good. It is perfect without frosting. Thanks to Cass for perfecting the recipe!
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