Anything you make in a 'normal' sized loaf pan can be made in the longer pan - you just have to increase the recipe proportionately.

Do the work you are most proud of

Real French people don't bake! At least they don't bake anything complicated, finicky, tricky or unreliable.

You can use melted butter instead of oil, but your cake may be a little denser.

Whenever you brown butter, some of it is lost - water evaporates, milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan, that kind of thing. It's possible that in browning the butter you ended up making the dough with too little butter.

I often say that eggs and sugar should be beaten until they thicken and pale and sometimes, when there are lots of yolks, that's lemon colored.

I use color as my chief guide. But I always squeeze an avocado - you want the fruit to feel close to the skin. If you can feel a separation, the avocado is past its prime. The avocado should have a little give, but not much.