My 126th experiment: Lemon bread

This is a Thanksgiving gift for a great friend who is sweet. The recipe is from KAF, I just scale it according to my common sense.

Recipe: Lemon bread (1 medium loaf)

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 tp lemon extract
- 3 TB lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1 tp salt
- 1 tp baking powder
- 1/2 tp baking soda
- 2 tp poppy seeds
- 1+1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Procedure:
1. Sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
2. Mix together sugar, oil, lemon juice, egg and sour cream. Beat until well mixed.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients all at once. Stir to incorporate. Add poppy seeds and mix well.
4. Bake at 350F for about 50 to 60 minutes until internal temperature reaches 190F.

Results:
2:40pm, ingredients:

3:03pm, wet ingredients and dry ingredients:

3:04pm, final batter:

3:04pm, batter height:

3:07pm, batter's thickness:

3:07pm, batter's height in pan:

3:09pm, additional water (about 2 TB) added and mixed in pan:

3:09pm, final batter height:

3:09pm, to bake at 350F:

3:53pm, loaf baked 42 minutes:

3:59pm, loaf's internal temperature 190F; soft crumb not strong enough to hold the thermometer:

3:59pm, thermometer coming out clean:

4:00pm, loaf's height:

4:00pm, loaf's top:

4:01pm, loaf's corner in pan:

4:00pm, loaf's crack:

4:04pm, loaf turned out:

4:04pm, loaf's side with wax paper:

5:23pm, loaf's side with wax paper removed:

5:23pm, comparing this loaf with pumpkin chocolate bread made on the same day:

Observations:
1. Unlike my pumpkin bread, this loaf rises uniformly and gives a flat top. I still do not know when a batter yields a flat-top loaf and when a mound-top loaf.
2. Use of wax paper allows the loaf to detach itself from the pan as is shrinks.
3. This is a sweet loaf alright. As a daily bread, I'd say probably 1/4 cup of sugar will be enough.

My 124th experiment: Cranberry orange nut bread without egg

This is another Thanksgiving gift for those that I am so thankful for. Two loaves, one large and one small.

Recipe: Cranberry orange nut bread without egg (1 medium loaf, 1 small loaf)

Ingredients:
- 2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1+1/2 tp baking powder
- 1/2 tp baking soda
- 3/4 tp salt
- 1/2 tp orange peel
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3 TB vegetable oil
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Procedure:
1. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange peel
2. Mix together in a separate bowl sugar, orange juice, sour cream.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Roughly mix, ignore lumps.
4. Add chopped cranberries and walnuts to mixture.
5. Add 3 TB oil to mixture. Mix lightly. Spoon mixture into pans greased with crisco. Fill pans up to 2/3 full.
6. Bake at 350F for about 1 hour. For small loaf, bake for 30 minutes.

Results:
10:28pm, almost all ingredients, except for orange juice:

10:38pm, wet ingredients and dry ingredients prepared separately:

10:41pm, mixing wet ingredients and dry ingredients:

10:43pm, final batter, with lumps:

10:45pm, nuts and cranberries added to batter:

10:47pm, oil added to batter:

10:52pm, batter in pans:

10:52pm, batter height in pans:

10:52pm, loaves to bake at 350F:

11:28pm, small loaf baked 35 minutes, reaching 200F:

11:28pm, small loaf not having much strength to hold the thermometer:

11:28pm, thermometer coming out of small loaf very clean:

11:28pm, small loaf's top in pan:

11:29pm, small loaf's height in pan:

11:30pm, large loaf continues baking covered:

11:42pm, small loaf turned out:

11:42pm, small loaf's bottom, with broken pieces:

11:43pm, small loaf's side:

11:43pm, small loaf's top:

11:46pm, large loaf baked 50 minutes, reaching 190F:

11:46pm, large loaf's height:

11:46pm, large loaf's top:

12:04am, large loaf turned out after 15 minutes of cooling:

12:06am, large loaf's side:

12:06am, large loaf's heel:

12:06am, large loaf's top:

12:06am, large loaf's crack on top:

2:40pm, slicing up the small loaf, pretty easily when cooled:

2:40pm, crumb of the small loaf:

2:40pm, a bite:

Observations:
1. This experiment has no egg.
2. My friend told me that it is not necessary to mix the dry ingredients too much. It's ok to have some lumps in the batter. So this is one I am doing this time.
3. This loaf turns out to be really soft, spongy and tender. In fact, the bottom cracks and part of it sticks to the pan. I do not know if this is because of the lack of egg. The cranberries contribute to the moisture in the loaf. In fact, the cracks seem to happen at the cranberries.
4. Flavor-wise, I would think that a little more salt will make the bread more flavorful.
5. The loaf's flavor is more richly developed overnight. The crumb is sweet and soft even without eggs. I think the oil and sour cream make it so. The cranberries are distinctively sour because they are fresh ones, not dried and sweetened. I myself like the sourness, but I don't know if others like it that much.