Amish Friendship Bread/Cake...what do you put in yours?

[Tiggerkeeper]

Have you ever made one of these? Well, mine is ready to start dividing and sharing but if I am going to keep this up for a period of time I need suggestions for what to put in the different loafs!! I remember once before when I did this that I used cinnamon but what else?

Thanks for all your help! I have a feeling I am going to have bread all over the place! Anybody want some?

TK

 

[chessie]

TK,

Soon your friends and coworkers will run and hide when they see you coming for fear you have a squeezie plastic bag of bread starter for them. You will be asking your neighbors to baby-sit your starter for you while you are at Disney World. If you make and eat your bread/cake each and every time, you will need to step up your visits to your gym. lol.

Have fun with it.

Chessie

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Oh! I've never heard of this. Please tell me more, what is it?

 

[Tiggerkeeper]

Beth, it's kinda like a sourdough starter. It sounds like a lot of work but once you get started it is not bad! I even found a recipe to make it chocolate but haven't tried it yet.


Amish Friendship Cake/Bread

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 fluid ounce warm water
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups milk

-----------Cake/Bread Ingredients------------

1 cup sourdough starter
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts


Directions:

1. To Make Starter: Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 1 tablespoon white sugar, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup of the flour, and 1 cup of the milk in a non-metal bowl and stir with a non-metal spoon until creamy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for two days to ferment. It will become bubbly and have a sour odor. Do not place in refrigerator. On second day, third day, and fourth day: stir. On fifth day, add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, and stir. On sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth day: stir. On tenth day add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Reserve 1 cup starter; pour remaining starter, 1 cup each, into 3 containers to give away to friends if desired. Starter is enough for 8 loaves.

2. To Make Cakes/Bread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8 or 9 inch loaf pans.

Mix 1 cup of the starter, oil, baking powder, eggs, 1 cup of the sugar, 2 cups of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, vanilla, and chopped nuts. Stir in the baking soda just before pouring the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bananas, dates, or raisins can be added for variety.


Melissa

 

[BevS97]

ok - i guess I'm a little confused, do the people who receive your bread dough just make bread with it, or do they do something to make more dough to give to people?

Bev

 

[Tiggerkeeper]

They start with the day 2 instructions and yep, it is like gossip....they give to two friends and they give to two friends....... After awhile people start running from you and your baggies just like chessie said above!

TK

 

[chessie]

Mine seemed a little different from what I remember. My Goddaughter gave me my first plastic bag with one cup of starter in it. I left it on my counter top and would squeeze it daily a few times. Twice during the 5 days I added 1 cup of flour and one cup of milk. It got really spongy looking. It must have made 4 cups. At the end of the 5 days I took one cup to make my bread/cake and divided the other three cups into zip lock bags and gave 2 of them to friends along with the recipe and instructions, and kept one for myself to start the process over again.

The bread/cake recipe was really easy. I seem to remember that it called for instant pudding. You could be as creative as you wanted with the different types of pudding and spices. I remember using chocolate pudding and chocolate chips. banana, lemon, pistachio, and butterscotch. Then one day I forgot and the starter died.

I even baby-sat for my friends started while she went on vacation. I wish I still had the recipe but I lost it when my old computer crashed forever. We had a wonderful time while it lasted. Have fun with it and keep us posted.

Chessie

 

[piratesmate]

Again, my instructions are slightly different. They specify that you must stir with a wooden spoon on days 2-4 & 6-9 and not to use a metal bowl either.

It is preferable to give away the excess (my instructions say to use a container with a lid, not bag) but I've been known to either use it all & start again in several months or to throw it away/kill it - whatever it takes. So many people around here have it. It's kind of like zucchini in the summer!

Bread:
1 c starter
2/3 c oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs

Sift separately:
1 c sugar
2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
Add sifted ingredients to batter**. Pour into 2 well-greased & sugared load pans. Bake at 350 for 40 - 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing.

** You can also add fruits, nuts, apples, raisins, dried cherries, craisins . . . . when adding the sifted ingredients.

I don't have it written down anywhere, but I seem to remember that I've heard of people freezing the starter. I guess if you get desperate to get rid of it, you could try that & see if it thaws okay. You'd be able to tell if it's okay by day 5 - before you put more ingredients into it.

I have a BUNCH of sour dough recipes, but have never used the friendship bread starter for those recipes. Has anyone else done that??