Friendship Bread

According to Wikipedia, Amish Friendship Bread is a cake-like sweet bread made from sourdough starter, a portion of which is often shared with friends in a manner similar to a chain letter. The starter is a substitute for baking yeast and is shared with friends and a portion saved out to start another cycle. 

There is nothing backing up the connection of the sweet stirred-bread to the Amish people, although the name has been taken from them. True Amish Friendship Bread is "just sourdough bread that is passed around to the sick and the needy", according to Elizabeth Coblenz, author of the syndicated column, "The Amish Cook", and member of the Old Order Amish.

Apparently the recipe first appeared on the internet around 1990, but the actual recipe is several decades old.

Farberware Bakeware 9-by-5-Inch Loaf Pan

A common recipe using the starter, also known as the Mother Bread,  suggests using one cup (240 ml) of it to start a new cycle, giving the remaining batter to friends, typically in airtight plastic bags with instructions for feeding the dough and the recipe for baking the bread on the 10th day of the cycle. 

A typical cycle involves adding or "feeding" the starter with 1 cup each (240 ml) of sugar, flour and milk every 5 days. The 10 day cycle produces approximately 5 cups of starter which must be either given away, baked (each 1 cup of starter makes 2 loaves of bread) or used to start a new cycle. Given the obvious multiplication facts, unless you want to bake ALOT of cinnamon bread, on day 10, it is best to pass it along to friends, with the option of saving one cup for yourself to start again.

The Amish Cook's Baking Book

Despite some instructions which say otherwise, according to the article in Wikipedia, the starter can be frozen for later use or if a few days delay is desired, refrigerated, which slows the fermentation process to about half. I may try this just to see how it works.

The end result is a very sweet and moist cinnamon bread. You may vary the bread slightly by adding nuts and or raisins to the batter before baking.

The bread pictured was made from a starter given to me at a workshop, and goes nicely with coffee !  Be warned: once you cut into the first loaf (it makes 2) you better freeze the second loaf or it will all be gone in a day or two depending on how many in your household or how much you can't resist. It's delicious ! 



I'd love to hear from you if you've tried the Friendship Bread. 

making your life a little sweeter,

Liz
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http://youtu.be/pC2nePyCcl4

Happy Baking !!