Lesson 8: Beyond the Basics
We’ve covered a lot of ground in this course, from the most basic quick loaves and muffins to biscuits, scones, cornbread, coffeecake and soda bread. But of course there’s a lot more to the world of quick breads than these few lessons could contain. So let’s talk about some of the other possibilities.
The Non-Bread Breads
“The Best Quick Breads” is a massive book that covers a lot of ground, and a lot of things that I never would have considered quick breads before I read the book. But if you think about how we’ve defined quick breads and the extra things she covers, there’s really not a lot of difference among them.
What is a quick bread, really? It’s flour, leavener, salt, fat, liquid, usually sugar and other seasonings. It’s cooked quickly and often enjoyed warm right after cooking. Whether it’s a muffin or a pancake, those same rules hold. So let’s take a quick look at some of those other quick breads you’d never think of as breads.
Many of these products are traditional breakfast items, like pancakes, waffles, crepes, cafluti and popovers. Many of them aren’t even baked in the oven, but on a griddle or in a hot frying pan. Cafluti is a sort of oven pancake, and popovers are like exploded muffins, which can be made in a special popover pan or a muffin tin. There are many variations, from adding berries and other fruit to chocolate chips, peanut butter, whole grains and even sausage, as in the legendary English popover called Toad in the Hole.
These “breads” are as simple as the others we’ve discussed, and the same rules apply: mix dry ingredients well, add wet ingredients, stir but don’t over mix, cook as directed until golden. All of these you’ll want to eat warm and hope for no leftovers, because they really are best fresh. If you have only a few leftovers, you can crumble them and throw them out for the birds. That’s the tradition in my family. If you have lots of leftovers, you can save them in the fridge or freezer (except for popovers) but they won’t be as good.
