I have been having this dispute for the longest time and I would like to know. Please, if possible, give some sort of scientific fact supporting your answer.
No, as others have said, it is a quick bread. This term refers to any bread that uses chemical leaveners (baking powder and/or baking soda) as opposed to yeast, and requires no kneading or rising time. The definition includes pancakes, waffles, scones, biscuits, coffeecakes, muffins and loaves. Obviously, quick breads are closest in texture/density and composition to muffins.
Many layer cakes use chemical leaveners, too, but the variations in the ratio of ingredients provides a much lighter, airier texture. So while the sweetness of Banana Nut Bread may remind you very much of cake, it is truly a bread!
Happy Baking! ~ Maria
April 12th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Well Banana Nut Bread may be sweet and tasty but it isn't a cake technically. There IS such thing as Banana Cake you know.
Bread is a basic, usually revolving in some way around flour and water, maybe something to make it rise, (salt yeast, eggs, soda) and that's it. Some breads are flat and some are in loaves, some are cooked on a griddle and some in an oven. It may have other ingredients, including being sweetened, nuts, seeds, but as a staple it has basic ingredients- water and flour.
Cake is sweet and baked in an oven. The flour is often different in cake. There is no gluten action in bread even though it can be made to rise.
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April 12th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
it's baked in a loaf pan. If you bake in a cake pan and put a lil frosting on it… guess what you have?
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April 12th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
No it is a muffin
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April 12th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
No…..Cake is really moist.. airy and light with icing….Bread is more heavy and solid (some breads do have icing but that doesn't make it a cake) …cake is baked in a cake pan and bread in a Bread pan…making it more thicker….Both are sweet yes….these are just my thoughts on this..and well..my taste too.
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April 12th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
It's a quick bread that happens to be sweet. http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry?id=4161
There isn't a clear technical distinction between cake and bread. Some examples fall clearly at one end of the spectrum, but others fall somewhere in the middle.
Think of a yeast-risen coffee cake. Yeast dough is kneeded, rises, then it's formed into a round shape and baked on a flat sheet. Cake or bread?
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April 12th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
No, it's a "Quick Bread" as opposed to a Yeast Bread.
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April 12th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
i agree with sunshine its a muffin. because there is no rising. and it wouldn't be a cake it's a denser batter. if you had a yellow cake mix and put it in a muffin pan you would get cupcakes, banana bread mix in the same pan gives you muffins. i would say it's closer to a cake if you want technical details find a good baking book
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April 12th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I THINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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April 12th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
No, as others have said, it is a quick bread. This term refers to any bread that uses chemical leaveners (baking powder and/or baking soda) as opposed to yeast, and requires no kneading or rising time. The definition includes pancakes, waffles, scones, biscuits, coffeecakes, muffins and loaves. Obviously, quick breads are closest in texture/density and composition to muffins.
Many layer cakes use chemical leaveners, too, but the variations in the ratio of ingredients provides a much lighter, airier texture.
So while the sweetness of Banana Nut Bread may remind you very much of cake, it is truly a bread!
Happy Baking!
~ Maria
References :
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Baking-Quick-Breads/Detail.aspx
~ professional baker; 20+ years home experience; food geek