Walnut & banana loaf | Jamie Oliver fruit recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why is my banana loaf soggy? ›

You Use Too Much Banana

Using too much banana could make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing. If you have bananas leftover, you can always freeze them for later use.

Place a paper towel at the bottom of an airtight container or in a zip-top bag. Place the cooled banana bread on top of it, then cover the loaf with another paper towel. Seal the container tightly and refrigerate for up to one week.

A handful of walnuts and a potassium-rich banana go a long way as a snack.

Over mixing the batter

The reason is as you mix, the gluten begins to develop, and when too much development happens, you can end up with a dense, chewy loaf rather than the soft and delicious banana bread you were hoping for.

Is a Glass or Metal Pan Better for Baking? Since aluminum baking pans conduct heat more quickly and are easier to wash, store, and care for, I prefer them for baking in most circ*mstances. In fact, using glass or even ceramic baking pans for certain recipes, such as brownies or banana bread, may create adverse results!

Here's the secret: overripe bananas don't necessarily mean too-ripe bananas for banana bread. It really comes down to personal preference. Those brown-speckled, mostly yellow bananas are still ripe and will bake into a great loaf.

This is why, health experts recommend avoiding acidic and sub-acidic fruits like lemon, pomegranate, strawberries, etc with banana, which is sweet in nature. In fact, some studies have found that when eaten together, bananas and acidic fruits create issues like nausea, headache et al.

Walnut: Pairs well with apple, apricot, banana, caramel, chocolate, cinnamon, nectarine, peach, pear, plum, and rum.

Using too much flour makes for an extra crumbly bread.

If you're tapping your measuring cup to level out flour as you measure, or you're pushing down the piled-up powder, you'll end up using too much of it. I packed my flour for this loaf, and what I got was a crumbly cake with a dry crust all around.

Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is the raising agent and this can sometimes taste bitter or soapy if the wrong quantity is used. Make sure that you measure the bicarbonate of soda with a proper 1 teaspoon/5ml measuring spoon and the spoon measurement should be level.

How to store banana bread so it doesn't get soggy? ›

Once it is completely cool, Roszkowski says to keep banana bread fresh by placing it in an airtight container, wrapping it in plastic wrap, or even slicing it and wrapping it in plastic wrap. "This will make sure the banana bread does not lose its moisture and become stale."

Adding more eggs makes for a spongy, less flavorful banana bread. Doubling the number of eggs I was using resulted in a spongy cake with a moist texture. While the banana flavor was present, it wasn't as prominent as it was in other loaves.

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.

If you've ever stored fresh bread in a plastic bag, you'll notice that condensation starts to form, and the bread becomes overly moist. This is because plastic isn't breathable, and the moisture inside the bread works its way outward into the bag's atmosphere.