nathalie asks stupid questions

please HELP me cause i wanna make banana bread. :-)

Baking soda is powder, they explain it much better here!

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm

I think shortening is semi-solid fat, lard is shortening but in the US it's more usual for it to be vegetable fat. Crisco is a US brand of shortening. You should be able to do a straightforward swop with marg or butter

mmmm, banana bread!

Stupid question: if my chocolate muffins fell flat after some time, should i use baking soda the next time?

Yes, banana bread RULES. :-)

Could it be opening the oven that's making them go flat? I only make quite heavy muffins with wholemeal flour, so they don't tend to sink. I use about a cup of flour/oat bran to 2 teaspoons of baking powder.

Ah no, it went flat while baking. Quite strange.

Shortening is indeed a solid but spreadable (at room temperature) fat. In banana bread, butter would work fine, making it a bit oilier than if it were made with vegetable shortening, but very very tasty. Or you could use 1/2 butter and 1/2 lard. Lard gives baked goods a wonderful texture and lovely crisp crust.

Baking soda is half of what makes up baking powder. In order for it to make baked goods rise, it has to be used with an acid ingredient. So just adding some baking soda to your muffin batter may not do much on its own. Baking powder has both the baking soda and an acid ingredient (typically tartaric acid/cream of tartar) mixed together. Adding a bit of this to your batter should leaven it and cause the muffins to rise in baking. Vicky's measure of 2 teaspoons (30 ml) to every cup (~100 grams) of flour is a good place to start. You might want to reduce any salt that is added to the batter by a small amount, as the baking soda component adds some saltiness.

Another thing that will make your muffins not rise is stirring the batter too much, but since your initial recipe didn't have any leavening in it, that's the more likely thing. A basic muffin batter generally has flour, sugar, baking powder, salt (sifted together in one bowl), milk (or water), eggs, melted butter (or oil) mixed together in a second bowl. Then you quickly mix the wet into the dry - the batter will be lumpy and the flour may not all be mixed completely in, but that's okay. Portion out into muffin tins and pop into a 350 F oven.

If you are using baking soda/baking powder, don't let the batter sit around after you have added the wet to the dry - all the fizz can go out of the leavening leaving things flat. Double-acting baking powder is able to rise a bit from the heat of baking, but things get puffiest when you get the batter into the oven fairly fast after mixing.