Scaling down to fit 8"x4" loaf pan

I'm excited to ramp up and get cooking but do you see any issue with using 3/4 amounts of the recipe's ingredients to fit a slightly smaller Corning glass loaf pan? i.e.. 1/4 cup replacing a 1/3 cup ingredient and so on. Thanks!

Stan
  • Posted by: Stan
  • May 10, 2020
  • 4316 views
  • 7 Comments

7 Comments

Stan May 11, 2020
A thank you to Nancy and Creamtea for helping me to make this delicious treat!
 
creamtea May 11, 2020
Do you happen to have muffin tins or custard cups? If so, you can use a couple of them, greased and floured (or lined with cupcake liners) to bake the extra batter. If you don't have muffin tins and want to try to make 3/4 of the recipe, I have sometimes "divided" eggs by beating the last egg slightly and decanting a small amount "by eye". If you don't want to do too much calculating, only adjusting the batter, you could make the full amount of streusel and either use it all or save a portion for another time (or even double it, say, and freeze half for the next time you make this bread). Also, be aware that glass pans bake differently than metal. Some sites say to reduce the baking temp by 25 degrees and check the cake 10 minutes earlier for doneness .
 
Stan May 11, 2020
Thanks for the suggestions, especially the "egg divide" solution. Decanting has a sophistication that "reducing the liquid" can't quite match. I will partition the 2nd egg as you suggested.
I'm goin for a straight 3/4 recipe all the way and I'll report back.
 
Nancy May 11, 2020
You're welcome - hope it tastes as good as if looks!
 
Nancy May 10, 2020
Stan -
Good luck with your baking!
A few suggestions for adjusting your oan size.
My estimate of volume comparison between the 8x4 and 9x5 pans is about 70%, so using 3/4 ingredients might be a bit too much and overflow.
But making either 2/3 or 3/4 will be fussy, with some of the smaller amounts & especially the eggs.
Options - since the original pan capacity is 8 cups, either make the whole batch and cook the extra in a small extra pan, use another 8 cup pan, or maybe just make half recipe in a 4 cup pan (many baking recipes can be halved or doubled successfully).
Or, look at one of the many charts of baking pan volumes (allrecipes, King Arthur Flour, etc) or the article here by Alice Medrich here about making any cske recipe fit your pans.
 
Stan May 10, 2020
Hey Nancy...thanks for the thoughtful reply. The only pans at my disposal are 9" rounders, 9" square, and the 8x4" loaf pan. The issue is none of these pans have enough height to replicate a quick bread. I figured my loaf pan holds 6 cups and the 9x5 holds 8 cups so that's how 3/4 seemed ok. It would be tricky to scale down each ingredient but the general banana bread shape would remain. Then again, I'm not wedded to this particular treat but that streusel seems pretty awesome!
 
Nancy May 10, 2020
Stan - OK, I understand now you want the height of the loaf pan.
In that case I would go ahead and use the 8x4 pan, use 2/3 or 3/4 amount batter and bake with a sheet pan or aluminum foil underneath in case there's any overflow.
 
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