I’ve been making the same recipe for lemon quick bread for thirty years and now all of a sudden it’s flopping in the middle. What’s wrong?

Joyce343
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9 Comments

HalfPint March 25, 2022
Perhaps, insufficient mixing. We are often told not to overmix with quick breads and muffins. Maybe in this case, batter was not mixed enough.

Another thought: too much leavening. Since the baking powder is new, you might not have needed as much. The quick bread would over-rise and then sink upon cooling. This has happened to me with cake and resolved when I reduced the leavening.
 
drbabs March 24, 2022
I’m going to guess at it being the lemon juice since everything else is the same. Different lemons have different acidity. A little too much lemon juice can change a cake into a pudding. (I’ve learned this from hard experience.) Have you changed lemon variety? Do you think it could be that?
 
Joyce343 March 24, 2022
The bread only has the zest in it.
 
Nancy March 24, 2022
Not sure, but if you fo a web search for "undercooked middle of cake" you'll get various sources from BBC to humble bloggers.
Everything from oven door opened during baking to batter sat at room temp too long before going into oven. Something unconscious or unintended?
Good luck with your detective work.
 
Joyce343 March 24, 2022
Went right into the oven, never opened the door.
 
702551 March 24, 2022
First question: what is the recipe? What leavener is being used? If it is baking soda or baking powder, is it really fresh? Did you change brands?

Sadly, no photo has been provided. From the very short description, it sounds like an insufficient bake, not enough time. Without the photo, no one here can see the color of the edges. What does the bottom look like? (You can tell a *lot* about a bake by looking at the bottom.)

Another factor might be incorrect oven temperature. Did you move? Is this a new or old oven? Ovens -- like any device -- don't last forever. Have you verified the oven temperature with a standalone thermometer?
 
Joyce343 March 24, 2022
All freshly bought ingredients,baking powder all new. Right amount of baking time , toothpicks come out clean. Just had oven calibrated. Very strange.
 
Joyce343 March 24, 2022
Oven is only 5 years old, and had the repair man calibrate it 2 days ago.
 
drbabs March 24, 2022
I wonder if that’s not the issue. Maybe your oven ran hot before, but you were used to it, and the new calibration has decreased the temperature??
 
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