Breadmaker Disaster- Why?

[Smowball]

I've got a new breadmaker and yesterday decided to use up some over ripe bananas and make one of the recipes in the accompanying book - banana and nut bread. The recipe says as follows:

Ingredients group 1.
Butter
Milk
Mashed banana
Egg
Walnuts
Lemon rind

Ingredients group 2.
Plain flour
Bicarbonate of soda
Baking powder
Sugar
Salt

Method:
Mix group 1 in a bowl. Mix group 2 in a separate bowl. Pour mixture into baking pan.

Now I've read this as pouring the two separate bowls of mixed ingredients into the baking pan and then cooking. But although it ran thru programme and mixed and cooked, it didn't rise- not a bit. It literally stayed the level it was when raw. Any idea what could have gone wrong??

[Old_Geezer]

No yeast ?

[Old_Geezer]

Most breads we make add the non normal bread ingredients and fold in part way through, after the bread has proved or whatever it's called.

[Old_Geezer]

Compare the recipe to others in the book and see if there's a possible omission.

[Prudie]

Silly question but I presume that recipe above did also include the quantities of each ingredient?

[gingejbee]

If the raising-agent is baking powder (rather than yeast)....are you sure it was fresh enough - if old, it loses it's raising ability.

[Smowball]

Sorry guys - been busy. Yes it did have quantities - i just didn't put them on here to save time. All ingredient completely fresh (apart from ripe banana!). No yeast in recipe. Is that it??

[Islay]

It won't rise by a great deal as it is actually more a cake than bread, and it is also a very 'heavy' cake at that.

[katerich48]

Although Banana bread is called bread - its more of a cake... every time I've made it (not in a bread maker) its never needed yeast. So I don't think thats the problem

[ubasses]

The fact that there is no yeast in the recipe, but does have baking powder and bicarb makes it sound more like a cake than a bread.
Did you put the ingredients into the machine in the right order, mine always wants the dry ingredients first, which looks like your 2nd group, then the wet on top.

[Smowball]

It tasted good but was literally just an inch and a half thick!

[Smowball]

Yes all bread maker recipes I think you have to put ingredients in exacts order- now I mixed the two bowls, which one did I put in first?? Ibe a feeling it was the banana mix......it didn't specify

[ubasses]

Could have been the problem.

[EDDIE51]

Bread needs 'strong' white or brown bread flour, ordinary plain flour will not work. It will be more like a flat bread or pancake with ordinary flour.

[Smowball]

I did consider using my strong white bread flour but as the recipe didn't state that I didn't use it.

[Islay]

TBH you would have been aswell mixing it all together yourself and just baking it in the bread machine - that's what I do, but my recipe is a fat free one and it does rise a little but not a lot!

[Smowball]

Lol I do normally just bung in oven but didn't want breadmaker to be one that just gathers dust so wanted to use it as much as Poss.........

[EDDIE51]

Seems to be a very poor recipe,bread always needs strong flour, how much baking powder and Bi carb did it tell you to use? The banana makes for a heavy mixture it needs a lot of 'lift'
The weight & % of ingredients is vital , you don't say how much of each you used.

[Jackdaw33]

Is there actually a difference between sodium bicarb and baking powder? I thought they were one and the same thing.

[Smowball]

2tbp butter melted, 1 tbsp milk, 175g mashed banana, 1 egg, 150g chopped nuts, 1 tsp lemon rind, 215g plain flour, half tsp bicarb, quarter tsp baking powder , 115g sugar, quarter tsp salt

[pastafreak]

I just Googled a couple of recipes,and they all seemed to ask for quite a bit more bicarb and baking soda, so that is probably the problem and why it didn't rise.