Comments on: Friendship Bread

By: tomHess

tomHess — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:24:09 +0000

I too received the AFB recipe and starter from a friend (oddly enough), but after looking at the recipe and noting how much sugar it called for, I started wondering what would happen if I went totally off the reservation and treated the starter as if it were a traditional sourdough… so I went about making an everyday-sandwich bread, using Alton Brown’s “I’m Just Here For More Food” as a guide to the basic principles.

I knew that it had already been fed quite a bit of sugar, and so I kept feeding it as per the instructions, but began weaning it off the sugar (3/4 C. instead of a full cup) at the halfway point.

My first loaves (50% AP/50% bread flour) were tasty and only slightly sweet in contrast to the sour component. Light yellow color, fair crumb if a bit dense (which probably has nothing to do with the starter). Quite edible sandwich loaves…

I kept on feeding the remainder starter less sugar (1/2 C.), and got a more balanced flavor, so I may hold it there, but it’s still getting milk instead of water (I use 2%). I’m still working on getting a better rise w/o collapse, but that’s another story. The point is, it is possible to use the Amish starter for something other than AFB. Experimentation!

By: Leisel

Leisel — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:24:23 +0000

I had this a few months ago, but nobody I knew wanted any… they hated how the starter multiplied. One of these days, I’m going to sit down and figure out how to make it so that I can end up with 1 starter or 2 starters when all is said and done, so that the recipient can decide if they just want to keep it going for themselves, or if it’s a good time to pass it along to friends. I think options are all that my friends would need to make this something they enjoyed instead of something that scared them.

By: april

april — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:53:13 +0000

Thanks for posting the link to a starter, mine “died” when we went to Florida and I have been saving the last loaf in the freezer. Now I can make more! I love this bread, you can add different extras to get a different tasting bread. The baked loaves freeze well so they are great to save for special occasions and give as gifts(also thank to Sonshine on the tip you can freeze the batter!)

By: keren

keren — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:02:09 +0000

Ha! James–I didn’t realize that this was you at first! You have excellent kitchen tips. Thanks for the “hope”–actually mine took a little longer. Daniel kept wondering when the bags of smelly, mushy stuff were going to turn into bread!

By: James

James — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:54:46 +0000

I got a starter kit 2 weeks ago from my pastor’s wife and I faithfully and successfully took good care of it – until day 10. If for some reason, any of you out there forget to feed and divide the starter on day 10 – there is still hope! If you forget to feed it and just start throwing in all the baking ingredients, here’s what to do: add an extra cup of flour. If you don’t have pudding, try a cup of powdered milk. And of course, don’t forget the big handfuls of whatever you have in the cupboard (in my case, shredded coconut and chocolate chips). One last reminder, don’t cook on Preheat; cook on Bake.

I learned a very important lesson – don’t bake when you’re busy doing other things late at night!

By: Athena

Athena — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:03:47 +0000

Thanks for sharing the recipe. It’s been a long time since anyone shared their friendship batter with me.

Love your blog.

Athena
http://www.homespunhealers.wordpress.com

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:52:33 +0000

Hi–thanks for the link to the starter recipe! I was thinking of looking it up for myself, but haven’t yet. Oh, I was hoping that someone might know if you can FREEZE the starter? I have a ton–not enough friends, I guess.

I make my “bread” in a bundt pan and add some chocolate chips and chopped nuts–yummy!

Cindy

By: Texastanya

Texastanya — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:09:54 +0000

Ha! I was just thinking last night, how I’d like to start a Friendship Cake/Bread to share with family and friends. Thanks so much. And you have great timing!

By: candace

candace — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:05:59 +0000

Thanks, I always wanted to have the starter recipe!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:39:00 +0000

I have never had this but have an odd fascination with the Amish so I may have to try it. I wonder if I could adjust it to use glutten free flour and rice milk though to fit my daughter’s diet.