/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.8458044]

So I've always used the same recipe for banana bread, but this time I wanted it to be fluffier and lighter, so I added some milk, one more banana, and whisked it quite a bit to add some air to the batter. And it did raise a lot, well over the mould rim, however after I took it out to cool, it "deinflated" and ended up flat. What can I do to avoid this?

[Anonymous No.8458159]

Take however many eggs the recipe calls for. Separate them, and add the yolks to the batter.

With the whites, whisk them vigorously for several minutes until peaks form. Then, gently fold the whipped whites into the rest of the ingredients at the end.

[Anonymous No.8458237]

>>8458159
This and be careful the eggwhites and yolks are at least room temperature

[Anonymous No.8458410]

You had too much liquid in comparison to the starch, so the bread didn't hold up to its own weight. The egg separation is a good idea, but if you want a cakier texture, do what you did and add a few tablespoons of corn starch. This will also lend crispiness to the crust.

And for god's sake don't whisk the batter. You'll develop the gluten in the flour and get a tough, peaked, and tunneled loaf. Gross.

[Anonymous No.8459270]

Thanks. I'm not using any eggs so I'll try the corn starch.

[Anonymous No.8459389]

>>8458044
seeing as others already corrected the culinary mistakes: the verb you were looking for is deflate, not deinflate.

[Anonymous No.8459392]

Just use almond flour instead of flour...

[Anonymous No.8459741]

>>8458044

The structure that typically keeps the bubbles of air suspended in the finished bread, providing structure, is gluten.

Quickbreads such as banana bread do not have gluten developed in them, and instead usually use eggs as a leavening agent, because people find that the tougher structure of bread caused by developed gluten is not suitable for sweet quickbreads whereas eggs provide a springy, less chewy structure.

I actually like a bit more bight to my banana bread, and I do develop the gluten, though I understand how others may not like that.

There are several things you can do in this knowledge. One is that you could tweak how you use the eggs:

> Use MOAR EGGS
> Try whipping the whites like this anon said >>8458159, so that the egg-white meringue provides additional stability and leavening

You could also tackle it in another way - your problem is that you used too much liquid, so you could try reducing the liquid. One way would be to dry the banana, for example by mashing and wrapping in cheese-cloth and squeezing, or sprizing with lemon juice (to preserve color) and dehydrating slightly in a dehydrator or a toaster oven on the lowest setting. This will concentrate the flavor while removing moisture.

Or, instead of using more milk, you could use a higher-fat dairy and just use less overall.

Another option would be to add an egg-replacement product such as flax eggs or chia eggs. In either case, you just grind them/mix with water/let stand, and you end up with a gelatinous substance that can bind much like eggs, while lending a sort of nutty taste and some omega 3s.