Greetings, bakers! Trying to figure out how to get the maximum rise and "crack" out of a quick bread recipe: totally baffled. According to the mood of the oven and ingredients, I either get a lovely risen bread with a dome and a crack, a somewhat smaller version of same, or a completely flat top, with no dome or split. Since it's a zucchini bread, I'm thinking the level of moisture might have something to do with it. I macerate the zucchini weighted overnight in the fridge with sugar, and in the AM it's pretty dry. I've tried increasing the dry ingredients just a bit, reducing the sugar, and increasing the two leavening agents--but I don't want to just keep doing that. Would a soft wheat flour do anything? How about a hotter oven temp. (going with 350 as per recipe)? I've tried piping a line of soft butter down the center of the bread, as per suggestion on this forum, but it sometimes sinks in and seals; I might just be using too thick of a line.
The original proportions are thus: 240g (2 c) flour, 1t. baking powder, 1t. baking soda, 170g eggs (3), 270 g sugar (1.25c) 140g olive oil, (2/3c) and various flavorings, poppy seeds, etc. The first time I baked this bread, I got photo #1--the second time, photo #2. Waaaa????
