If you’re anything like me, the quarantine trends consuming social media have left you both intrigued and full of questions. I’m not sure what part of a global pandemic and national stay–at–home order signals to people that they should start regularly making banana bread and whipping instant coffee to make Dalgona coffee, but there's something about this new normal that's making people do both. While I, of course, knew what banana bread was, I had never even heard of the drink before this, which led me to question how both of these trends even started in the first place. Here are some answers.
Banana Bread
Believe it or not, there is some logic behind the banana bread baking trend. Since people are buying greater quantities of food to limit to store visits, banana bread is something that people can make with bananas after they become overripe. This makes sense—it prevents food waste. These roots can potentially be traced back to the Great Depression when Pillsbury published the first recipe for banana bread, when our great grandparents learned how to make something out of anything.
An added bonus? This trend doesn't require any baking expertise—it’s easy to make, and can taste good even with mishaps. Some people are even teaching their young children the recipe. The baking of banana bread is a good diversion, and it’s enjoyable for many people. It’s a task that can be seen from start to finish, and create a sense of accomplishment. It’s a “low-risk, high-reward” baking project, something you can control. After all, there's comfort in knowing It will taste good, regardless of what goes wrong along the way.
Banana bread might be the official comfort food of quarantine. For people stuck away from home, it can transport them back to their families' kitchens. This warm baked good might just be a thing that is bringing people some sense of comfort during this tumultuous time that is anything but comforting.
Whipped Coffee
The inspiration to start making (and posting) whipped coffee may just have come from those who are lost without their daily trips to their favorite coffee chains, where skilled baristas prepare a variety of creative drinks. This drink is something people can make without being a professional barista—it only requires three ingredients. Apparently, it started in South Korea, and then TikTok (Ed. note: Another trend… we’ll just skip over that for now) made it famous in the U.S.
This whipped coffee is called dalgona coffee. It got attention in January on Pyunstorang, a Korean television show. After it hit TikTok, its popularity also spread like wildfire across Instagram and YouTube. Now, people are not just watching the satisfying videos—they’re making their own.
It’s pretty straightforward to make: you combine two tablespoons of each of the three ingredients (instant coffee, hot water, and sugar) in a bowl. Then, you whip it until it’s creamy. Spoon the mixture into a glass of milk and ice, and that's really all it takes to join in on this trend.
So, here you have it, the logical reasoning behind two seemingly illogical trends. If you have not tried them already, it might be worth giving them a shot. Banana bread and whipped coffee for breakfast tomorrow? Well, they definitely would pair well together. These are two low–risk projects to try, and you might just feel like you're back sitting at your favorite coffee shop.
