Banana breads are among the most common baking items in the West. There are many schools of thought as regards the discovery of this item. The initiation of this excellent bakery could be dated back to 1870 in the US, while some believe that housewives refused to throw away the ripe bananas. Some believe that the corporate kitchens wanted to promote their baking products, and thereby the discovery of banana bread came into place.
While you try to make banana bread, one of the most popular baking items, various issues can arise, but you can sort it out with little care. We have tried to give a solution to the six common mistakes that occur while baking banana bread. So, if you are pondering,’ Why is my banana bread turning out gummy?; then follow the instructions and enjoy perfect baking.
Contents
Six common reasons the banana bread turns gummy
1. Insufficient baking time
When you mix the dough, please set the correct time and the timer accordingly. This might occur that you have put a timing and have successfully accomplished a baking item, but the same time and process may still need to be completed for another composition.
So, you are required to mix the ingredients in exact proportions and then set the timing accordingly. While adding baking powder, I want you to know that there are more air pockets as the baking proceeds. The air pockets are responsible for the sponginess of the cake, anyways.
2. Underbaking kills
Whenever the mixture is baked below the stipulated time, then the texture of the resultant bake would be gummy and moist. the result is that you will feel the gum in every bite, making the entire stuff quite incapable of consumption. You must add some flavor ingredients, like cardamom powder or vanilla essence, to neutralize the smell of raw banana.
3. Testing the readiness
You can make out from the look of the resultant baking product that the product might be ready. The ultimate thing you can do is put a prick inside if you are baking in an oven. This can be done only when the cake is almost eighty percent done.
A ready texture will leave no dough on the surface of the prick. If the item is not ready, there will be strains of mixture on the surface of the prick. A readiness test can be the best way to check the quality of the bake.
4. Too much moisture
When baking a cake, you must be very particular about the ingredients you are putting in. If you are using milk to soften the dough, take it in lesser proportions. Sometimes, if you prepare gummy banana bread, bake it for a while. If you are consuming undercooked eggs, there can be chances of infection by Salmonella typhi. Bananas are known to attract moisture, Hence, if you are putting too much of bananas, then that can act to moisten the content.
You can add some unripe bananas and then take the dough to drain the excess water in it. You might have messed up with the baking powder and put the wrong proportions. You could have used the wrong pan, or it may need to be fixed with your oven. Anyways, after you have rectified the content of the cake, you can place the semi-cooked cake back into the oven and start baking at a lower temperature.
If you are cooking an undercooked cake, there are probabilities that you can correct in the following ways.
- An undercooked cake can be put back into the oven and then cooked for 10-15 minutes with or without the foil. You may check for 5 minutes to avoid any possible overcooking.
- If there is a bit of wetness in the middle of the cake, then you can cover the foil trap for heating the inside and cooking. You can check the inside with the help of a toothpick.
- If your cake is undercooked at the bottom, then you can place the cake in the center of the oven and cook for a lower amount of heat. You may cover the top of the cake with foil and prevent the top from burning.
5. Placing the wrong ingredients
The measurement of the ingredients of a banana cake matters a lot. The amount of flour, egg, baking powder, and baking soda varies. Mix flour, and add banana, honey, and milk in limited proportions. You can drain off the excess liquid in the dough and then add a bit more flour for the purpose. You can add some dried fruits to make the dough a bit heavy.
You might add various ratios of ingredients, and that would make different categories of cake. If you make your dough a bit too liquid, then it will take time for a perfect bake. There can be conditions when you will have to place the cake in different temperature conditions and also various strata.
Removing excess bananas or honey might be the right step in correcting the dough. You may add self-raising flour to make your cake fluffy and fit for a perfect spongy bake. Knowing what to do if baking goes wrong can help you a lot. Analyze the situation and you will be better positioned to get a perfect bake.
6. Inadequate incorporation of dry ingredients
The cake is an item where the portions and percentage of ingredients must be very much correct. The ideal ingredients have to be 60% sugar, 85% egg, milk, and water together, 60% fat, and 1-3.5 % of baking powder. If the sugar or liquid portion is altered, the other portions must be changed accordingly. With the imbalance of liquids, eggs, and aerating agents, there arise various types of faults that lead to shape-out in cases of cakes.
- If a cake ingredient has too much liquid, there is an X -X-fault. This means that when baked, the extra water runs into steam and aerates the place. when the cake cools down, the extra liquid condenses and stops supporting the crumb structure. This indicates that the cake might shrink and collapse up to the sides.
- An M-fault in the cake is observed, while the use of baking powder is relatively higher than normal. The cake rises while baked and flips in the center when the gas is released. When there is insufficient liquid or too much sugar, the M-fault occurs generally.
- The role of eggs in cake is the aeration and liquidation of the dough. The cake produced will be heavier and have a course crumb texture. The yolks are responsible for imparting a yellow color to the cake.
- When fat is added to the cake dough, that adds soft grease, and the cake collapses using a small, flat -top. When the fat added is lesser, there is no aeration and the cake has a raised peak. The texture becomes dry and rough for some reason.
7. Improper oven temperature
Maintaining a specific temperature is essential for baking. If the temperature is not maintained throughout, the cake might have various faults. Generally, a cake at 300 degrees will bear a pale and nice browned crust. When the temperature is 400 degrees, the crust will be darker and have a drier surface. If you maintain the temperature at 350 degrees, there will be a light, fluffy texture with a caramelized flavor. When the oven temperature is too low, the cake can have problems.
- Sunken center: Low-temperature baking results in a sunken center of the cake with the sides raised.
- Dryness: The cake could have a dry surface. Even too little sugar can leave the cake’s surface to dry.
- Coarse or gritty texture: Excess leavening can cause the cake or other substances to be dry and have a coarse surface. The use of liquid fat can cause a gritty and grainy type of baking.
8. Poor recipe selection
Recipe selection is vital while baking a cake or other stuff. If you are a beginner, you must pick simple recipes, avoiding the involvement of dry fruits and nuts. Experienced people can make out the type of baking and can alter the process by increasing or decreasing the oven temperature.
Make sure you don’t involve yourself in baking a large-sized cake. Too much eggs, sugar, or honey might make the cake heavy. The percentage of baking powder or baking soda is responsible for the cake rising and getting a fluffy texture.
Choose self-raising flour instead of manually mixing flour, baking powder, and baking soda. There are specific considerations while baking a gummy. If you are still thinking, ‘ Why is my banana bread turns out gummy?’ then you can conclude
- Consider baking small-sized cakes. Bigger-sized ones may have more ingredients, and managing them could be a hefty task.
- The way you add the ingredients one by one makes a significant difference. Adding the ingredients and mixing them accordingly can contribute to the cake’s sponginess and fluffiness.
- Make sure you avoid heavier ingredients like nuts and dry fruits. These might not strike the right balance in your recipe and result in erroneous baking.
How to Prevent the Gummy Banana Bread?
In this section, I have mentioned how to prevent gummy banana bread and make the bread smooth, soft, and fluffy like cake. By following tips you can prevent your bread from getting gummy. Here are some tips:
Use Ripe Bananas in the recipe
The texture of the banana depends on the banana, you should use a ripe banana to make your bread perfect. As unaged bananas are harder so will be challenging to mash and mix in other ingredients. Ensure that you are using ripped bananas in your bread recipe, they must be very spotty and mostly brown outside, soft touch, and very fragrant.
Use not overripe bananas with plenty of brown spots on them and the bananas have not blackened completely to make a lighter and fluffier loaf.
Do not over-mix
Do not over-mix the mixer of banana bread, if you over it will get heavy at the bottom. When you combine dry ingredients first it develops a gluten and it makes the bread gummy, to avoid this, mix wet ingredients first and then mix dry ingredients one by one it. You can add dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl and then add dry ingredients in the wet bowl gently.
Use refined dry ingredients and enough baking powder
Riddle the baking powder before adding it with other ingredients. Refining is important for dry ingredients so it can break clusters and lumps in banana bread mixture.
To avoid dense or gumminess in banana bread add a rising agent like baking soda. Ensure baking powder is completely mixed with other ingredients so it will help the banana bread rise uniformly.
When you include nuts or any heavy ingredients in banana bread, it will make your batter heavy or dense, so you will need to use more baking powder for it to rise.
Use the correct oven temperature
The first and most important thing is to check your oven is set to the correct temp by using an oven thermometer. If the temperature is correct and still there are some problems, then lower the temperature by 25F and try again.
One more important thing you need to open the oven’s door to check whether the banana bread is baked or not, opening the door every five minutes will lower the temp inside of the oven, which can delay or cause problems with the baking process. Refrain from opening until you need to!
Measure or weigh your ingredients
You should double-check the right amount of ingredients, whether you are using it in right amount or not. You can use a food scale or kitchen scale to measure your flour and other ingredients rather than volume.
While making banana bread simply try to find out the recipes that give the right amount of banana needed in weight as well. Rough instructions that uses the number of bananas should added that are mostly inaccurate, so bananas also need to vary greatly in weight and size like other ingredients.
Conclusion
Baking perfect banana bread is not rocket science. You can achieve it by means of following a perfect line of instructions. Understanding the importance of the oven temperature will enhance good baking. Selecting the perfect blend of ingredients might be instrumental in getting a perfect banana cake.
Bananas are the most commonly available ingredient, and you can make the perfect utilization by blending it into a cake. They are healthy and yummy. So, you do not have to ponder repeatedly, thinking, ‘ Why is my banana bread turning out gummy’? Follow the instructions and fix them; you will get a perfect bake.