tristesse: a lesson on quick breads

i baked nigella's chocolate version of the banana bread, simply because i had the time to. anyway, time to tell you - a general you - about quick breads. i would consider the banana bread a quick bread, not a cake, nor a yeast bread.

quick breads are stuff like muffins, pancakes, scones... they are not cakes because, fundamentally, they don't look like what a cake should look like; they don't have the fine crumbs produced by the creaming method; they are not filled, iced and decorated the way cakes are. quick breads are also not yeast breads because they do not use yeast as a leavener.

instead, they make use of chemical leaveners like bicarbonate of soda or baking powder. these chemicals react in the batter itself to produce gases, which expand when the batter is placed into the oven.

by contrast, yeast breads are given time to rise before baking - the yeast is allowed to feed on the dough, producing gases that get trapped in the dough. then these air pockets expand in the oven to make the bread rise as it bakes.

because quick breads rely on chemical leaveners, you don't have to give them time to rise. just mix and cook.

a tip: always sift the baking powder or bicarbonate of soda into the flour mixture. after that, whisk the flour mixture thoroughly. if not dispersed properly, the chemical leaveners clump together, and biting into such a clump will give a taste so bitter/soapy it'll make you feel sick.
also, work fast once the leaveners are added into the batter; bicarbonate of soda begins producing gases upon contact with acids, while baking powder does so with water (i think). you want to work fast to keep as much gas in the batter as possible before baking, so that the batter rises nicely.
yup, that's pretty much all there is about quick breads.
i seriously cannot tell you how nice it is to eat this! the best part is i stirred in some really good, dark chocolate chunks. the only regret is not using extremely ripe bananas, resulting in a not-so-aromatic product. now, as with many dark chocolate stuff, i think this chocolate banana bread goes well with a white chocolate custard. best served for with a glass of cold milk on a hot sunny day out.

i would like to add that when you walk out into the cool night air after a bath, holding in your hands a bag containing some warm slices of chocolate banana heaven, you will feel an aura of god-likeness emanate from you.

weiyang is (finally) coming out this weekend, and i'm thinking of norwegian cinnamon buns!