Think of muffins as mini versions of quick bread loaves, so using your quick bread recipe for muffins usually works well. Knowing that, you can also use muffin recipes for loaves. The type of fat and how it's mixed into quick breads helps determin the crumb. If the shortening is melted in the recipe, then substituting the melted shortening with liquid vegetable oil works well in equal amounts without altering the liquid. This is the traditional muffin technique. If the solid fat is creamed with the sugar, then you are using a cake technique and will expect a cake-like, close crumb. In this case, you won't get the same result by utilizing a liquid vegetable oil as a substitute. You can't get the airy-quality to the fat/sugar mixture if you substitute a liquid fat. As with all quick breads and muffins, keep mixing to a bare minimum so that you don't over-develop the gluten in the flour. If you find air tunnels in your finished product, then you are over-mixing the batter. The higher the fat content, the richer the taste and the softer the crumb. "Quick breads", as a category, include loaves, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, scones, popovers and are generally leavened with a chemical leavener. You might enjoy the link below for more information. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Baking 911 - Quick breads

Well, I made some corn bread last night. 24 gem muffins and one mini-loaf. Kept mixing to an absolute minimum, there were plenty of lumps (like Mom always told me to leave alone) and the results were very tasty. Like I said before, good flavor and crumb, no tunnels. But still, I got the Sombrero look. Not as much as I have gotten with straight muffin recipes but there. The loaf had more of it than the gem muffins. The flour info is interesting. I knew different flours had different gluten levels (never could make a decent wheat loaf until I heard about adding a wee bit of gluten flour) but as I use the same flour from batch to batch, that in and of itself doesn't explain why this only happens sometimes! A couple of weeks ago, I made a pan of cornbread that looked beautiful...modestly and evenly domed. Sigh. Okay, promised Lemon Bread Recipe: Lemon Bread 1 c oil 2 c sugar 4 eggs 3 c flour 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1 c buttermilk 1 c chopped walnuts (see my notes) 2 T grated lemon peel Topping: 1 c sugar 1/2 c lemon juice Cream oil and sugar together; add eggs, slightly beaten. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat into mixture, alternately with buttermilk, until smooth. Stir in chopped nuts and lemon peel. Spoon into greased 9"x5" pans. Bake for 1 hour in a 350 F preheated oven. Cool Slightly. Remove from pans. Heat topping ingredients until sugar is melted. Place loaves on pieces of foil. Pour topping over bread. Cool, wrap and store in refrigerator or freezer. Makes 2 loaves. The above is the recipe as it appears in, "The Tastes Of California Wine Country Napa/Sonoma, written and compiled by Sonnie Imes. It is a cookbook I've had for years, featuring recipes from various Bed & Breakfasts in that area. The Lemon Bread recipe comes from a place called, "Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza" which, to my knowledge still exists, though whether they still serve this bread is anyone's guess. My Notes: This bread is fine made with your basic lemon. But I far prefer Meyer Lemons for their rich flavor. I do not add walnuts for two reasons,for one thing, I've never cared for nuts in quick breads. They lose any crispness, becoming mere chewy lumps as far as I'm concerned. For the second thing, walnuts give me mini blisters on my tongue. I sometimes do add dried cranberries, plumped slightly in some sort of fruit liqueur. Most often, I just let the lemon flavor stand alone. One can always serve the bread with a fruit puree on the side or a good, home made jam. The recipe calls for you to "pour topping over bread." I have found that direction to be inadequate. Place the loaf in a large baking dish or serving dish, something that has sides to catch the liquid topping and large enough for room to spoon it up as it pools so you can drizzle it back onto the loaf. The loaves should absorb every bit of the topping. Turn the loaves on their sides to soak up pooled topping as well. The top and sides of the loaf should be well inundated. Just before serving, I sprinkle the loaves with lemon flavored powdered sugar. I make this by whirring sugar, more lemon peel (I grate extra when I make the loaves and leave it out to dry a bit while they bake) and a few drops of lemon extract in a spice grinder. Plain powdered sugar would do, of course. This must be done just before serving because the sticky topping will soak into the sugar if given time to do so, leaving it icky looking. This is wonderful served as a "strawberry shortcake" in lieu of the shortcake.

The baking soda reacts immediately with the acidic ingredients. Its effect will be gone in two hours. But I'm not sure it really has all that much leavening effect in heavy fruit cakes! What will remain from the reaction is the neutralizing of some acidity in the molasses and brown sugar. Baking powder usually is double-acting, meaning part of its action is heat-activated, and can probably still be counted on after the delay. I would mix a quarter of the recipe and bake it in the paper pans if I wanted to test them. It looks easy to divide that way.

I don't think you can change the proportions too much and still get a great sponge cake. Every memory of sponge cake I can conjure has a sugary taste. If you feel like experimenting, you can reduce it and see what you get. The alterations in texture might be an acceptable tradeoff for you. I would start by only taking it down 20 g, though. Whether it would work or not for sponge cake, I don't know, but I've read that demerara sugar tastes less sweet. I've never used it and don't know how it bakes. It obviously has a molasses component. You do have to smash it up in the food processor, and/or let it soak in the liquid (egg) to dissolve thoroughly, but it might also be worth a try if you're in the mood to play around.