Difference between bread and cake?

Ben

unread,

Nov 11, 2003, 7:30:55 AM11/11/03

to

Hi. My wife and I got into a discussion last night about the
difference between bread and cake. She's European and says 1/2 of the
stuff Americans call bread is cake (eg. Banana Bread). Is there a
definative difference between bread and cake like ingredients, baking,
etc?

Thanks for the help.

Ben..

Vox Humana

unread,

Nov 11, 2003, 8:44:08 AM11/11/03

to

"Ben" <bozothede...@excite.com> wrote in message
news:3922f5b.03111...@posting.google.com...

Banana Bread is considered a quick bread. It is essentially a cake or
muffin. Traditional bread uses yeast for leavening and has a well developed
gluten structure. Cakes and quick bread have minimal gluten development and
use chemical leaveners like baking powder.

Alex Rast

unread,

Nov 12, 2003, 1:35:18 AM11/12/03

to

at Tue, 11 Nov 2003 12:30:55 GMT in
<3922f5b.03111...@posting.google.com>,
bozothede...@excite.com (Ben) wrote :

Like most non-technical words, there is at least some ambiguity. First, I
will dismiss a few special cases.

Preceded by "short-" both words change meaning from the standard.
Shortbread is a type of cookie, shortcake is a type of scone. (Humorously,
I have to resort to the American "cookie" and the British "scone" because
in Britain, a cookie is called a biscuit, where in America, a scone is
called a biscuit. So depending on one's POV, *both* shortbread and
shortcake are "biscuits"!)

"Cake" in a non-baking context can refer to any food that's been compressed
into a solid block, usually with one definitely smallest dimension. Thus we
have rice cakes, yeast cakes, etc.

But generally, at least by my way of looking at it, the difference between
bread and cake is that in cake, the amount of eggs is sufficient to
contribute substantially to the *structure*, not just the *texture*. That,
I realize, is a very vague point in itself, although in general cakes will
be less dense than breads because once eggs start to have an impact on the
structure, that impact is to make it lighter. In fact, a cake doesn't have
to have any flour at all, thanks to the structure contribution of eggs, for
example flourless chocolate cake. However, a cake must have some other
contributor to structure besides eggs, otherwise things like souffle would
be a cake. It's all quite fuzzy and the boundaries overlap to some extent.
But this is at least a close approximation to the way I see things being
named.

--
Alex Rast
ad.r...@nwnotlink.NOSPAM.com
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Dee Randall

unread,

Nov 13, 2003, 11:34:17 AM11/13/03

to

I've heard that when Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake," that cake
was actually bread, and now people are a bit non-plussed about her
statement.
Dee

"Alex Rast" <ad.r...@nwnotlink.NOSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:9430E3AB4adra...@216.168.3.44...

Mark Floerke

unread,

Nov 14, 2003, 12:18:21 PM11/14/03

to

Technically,
Bread is a combination of flour and water, with the addition of yeast for
leavening. FDA labelling states White Bread must be a minimum based on
flour weight of 2% salt, 2% sugar, 2% shortening and 2% milk powder. To be
classified as a dough, the principle ingredients must flour and water, in
that order.
All batter mixes and pastes such as quick breads, i.e. tea biscuits, banana
bread, muffins, are sweet goods.

Mr. Pastry

"Dee Randall" <deed...@shentel.net> wrote in message
news:vr7cin6...@corp.supernews.com...

Matt

unread,

Nov 15, 2003, 1:43:57 AM11/15/03

to

difference is easy and not technical, cake tastes nicer!!

"Mark Floerke" <mflo...@cogeco.ca> wrote in message
news:_88tb.401$Cj6....@read2.cgocable.net...