Page 28 - AMEFT Journal 2021-2

BAKERY
All about Chiquita banana bread
Chiquita, an American brand, is a leading producer and distributor of bananas since 1870. 'I'm Chiquita Banana, and I've come to say... how to bake, relish and store Chiquita banana bread'.
Here is an ultimate baking guide for banana bread. For the perfect consi- stency of the banana bread, the wet ingredients need to be carefully stirred into the dry ones. It is important not to stir too much, otherwise gluten will develop and the bread will become chewy and rubbery. So be careful and don't stir too much!
In addition, do not use more fruits than stated in the banana bread re- cipe. Otherwise it could get too wet and not appear completely cooked through. The key to perfect soft bana- na bread is finding the right balance between the amount of flour and the number of bananas.
It is recommended to follow the instructions. Do not pour the flour
28 AMEFT 2 2021
Bake perfect banana bread by carefully stirring the wet ingredients into the dry ones.
directly from the bag into measuring cup, as this can lead to too much flour being compacted there. Instead, spoon it loosely from the bag into the measuring cup and scrape off the ex- cess with a flat edge (e.g. with a knife).
To find out if banana bread is baked through, take a shashlik skewer and stab it in the middle. If dough sticks to it, leave the bread in the oven for another five minutes. When the ske- wer comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, it is good to go!
Place the bread immediately on a wire rack after taking out from the
oven so that it doesn't get soggy. Also, don't wrap it in plastic wrap too soon, but let it cool down completely first.
The secret tips from Chiquita for perfect banana bread
1. Maturity: The riper the banana, the juicier and more aromatic the bread - so wait until the bananas are nicely ripe. With a few brown spots, they're even better!
2. Further ingredients could be nuts, chocolate or other fruits.
3. Toppings could be a creamy lemon icing or a delicious chocolate icing. A little whistle has never harmed the banana bread.
4. For nice and juicy banana bread, get the ripest bananas! Not green or yellow, but yellow with a few brown spots! That makes them sweeter and not only makes mi- xing easier; it also makes the ba- nana bread even more juicy and aromatic.
(Source: Chiquita)
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