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Just asking

708
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EW GURU
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 15:22

Not putting this in the foodies section because to me it's more of an English language question.

I made this chocolate banana bread, which is really a cake, but everyone seems to call it bread. Whoever I served it to wants to know why its called bread, and up until now all I'm being able to tell them is maybe because:

Its baked in a loaf pan
In the Western world it's eaten at breakfast
People also seem to be eating it with butter... like spreading butter on it as you would do on bread

Does anyone have a more realistic answer? Pictures and recipe at http://stovetopdancing.blogspot.com/2011/02/chocolate-banana-bread.html

708
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 February 2011 - 00:20
Oh, let them eat cake. Marie-Antoinette. :D :D :D
5400
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 23:33
Oh, let them eat cake. Marie-Antoinette.
708
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EW GURU
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 23:31
Or maybe people just wanted themselves to believe they are eating something healthIER than cake.. :D
1861
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 23:18
I'd personally disagree with most of the "reasons" Google's come up with. I've never made a cake-type "bread" with yeast nor any other type of flour. Plus none of my banana breads are anything but perfectly moist! Maybe it's just something as simple as this recipe is baked in a "loaf tin", and "loaf" is usually associated with "loaf of bread" ergo, everything that comes out of a loaf tin is "bread"... kind of mistaken logic, imo, but hey.
5400
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 23:17
And, just in case I do exist and amn't a figment of my own imagination, I repeat: if you bake it in a bread tin, it's loaf!
708
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EW GURU
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 23:11
Not sure that I have a 'reliable answer' but I think that you might be assuming too much about the 'western world' you refer to in the description of your recipe. Oooops no no, totally didn't want to go down [b'>[i'>that[/i'>[/b'> road :) Just said "western world" because most the recipes I've seen for this are from bloggers in "the West". :D
1257
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 17:08
Interesting. But I make banana cake using baking soda [NOT yeast'> and it's moist, 'cakey' and its sweetness is mostly derived from the cream cheese icing I slather on the top. And it's definitely a cake, it really is, despite the assumption of the googlesearch you did, that one of the things which defines banana [i'>cake[/i'> is its use of yeast. Until now, I would have assumed that it was more likely that a BREAD contained yeast, not cake, but hey-ho, not all cooks are the same. :) I think that google is a great resource, but sometimes the information there [as with wikipedia'> is not necessarily The Truth The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth. ;)
1100
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 16:54
1. Banana bread comes in less sweet than Banana cake 2. Banana cake will look softer when compared to the hard texture of the banana bread. 3. Banana bread is very dense and heavy in contrast to the banana cake, which is lighter. 4. Another difference between banana cake and banana bread is that the former one is moist and the latter one is dry. 5. When compared to the flour used in banana bread, the flour used in Banana cake is soft wheat. 6. In Banana bread, soda and baking powder is used, which gives it a raised appearance. Yeast is used in the preparation of banana cake Just copied the above from google... type in "banana bread vs banana cake" didn't want to post the link incase it messes up the thread
1257
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 16:41
Not sure that I have a 'reliable answer' but I think that you might be assuming too much about the 'western world' you refer to in the description of your recipe. Certainly, if you are eating your chocolate banana 'bread' at breakfast with butter then you might have cause to describe it as 'bread', but I make a recipe using dates, baked in loaf tin, also served with butter [but not at breakfast'> and it's only ever been described as date 'loaf'. The same applies to other recipes I make using a loaf tin. I tend to use the word 'bread' for recipes which are generally non-sweetened [but not necessarily so'> and which are sliced or torn and served with other ingredients/toppings/condiments. They are not required to be baked in loaf tins but I do define them as something which contains a rising agent [such as SR flour or yeast, for example'>. And I wouldn't serve chocolate banana 'bread' at breakfast. Just sayin'. :D
1579
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 16:29
No idea but I think I just gained a kilo by clicking on your website :D
5400
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 17 February 2011 - 16:26
I think anything like that which is baked in a loaf tin is called bread. Look at banana bread without chocolate, it's not bread, it's a cake! A favourite cake round our house is Nigella's Quadruple Chocolate Loaf (baked in a bread tin), though it's not eaten with butter.
 
 

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