Amish Friendship Bread

[carnation]

Is anyone else doing this? You can make your own yeast starter or get some from a friend but the deal is that if you get some, you share it with 3 others. There's a fiction book about it now and a website ( www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com ) and I'm going back to it in a few minutes to look at various recipes. Apparently the variety is fantastic. I want to make the chocolate instant pudding!

The book, which just came out, is by Darien Gee and I happened on it by chance. Does anyone know anything about these recipes or cute ideas for sharing it?

[Tulip86]

Sounds a lot like the Herman cake. A type of dough you receive from a friend, add some ingredients to, and share with 5 others. Very good cake too!

I usually put the dough in a cute container with a pretty recipe on top when I give it to my friends.

[AGDee]

The Amish Friendship Bread craze hit my work a couple years ago. As it spread, it kind of got ridiculous how many starters you ended up with. You can freeze the starter too, so I ended up tossing 3 or 4 into the freezer and, well, I forgot about them. I threw them away recently trying to open up some freezer space!

This is more like cake than bread, FYI. I've made it with chocolate, banana and lemon pudding and all of them were excellent! It's very moist, yummmmm. I figured you must be able to make the starter somehow. Thanks for sharing.

[MysticCat]

It was a really big thing here about 20 years ago and then again about 10 years ago.

Frankly, we thought it gets old fast. My wife groans at the mention of it.

[carnation]

I'm getting further into the book (I love this book) and people are leaving it on each others' doorsteps because they have so much. But I have got to make that chocolate pudding.

[Gusteau]

Wow, I haven't thought about Amish Friendship Bread in a long time. I was huge in my mom's circle about 10-15 years ago, but whenever I mention it to anyone in my age group they don't remember it.

I didn't know there were multiple varieties of it though; I always remember it tasting like a cinnamon bread.

[honeychile]

I missed out on that one! There was a Brandied Fruit that went around for a while (we called it "how to become a diabetic"!), but not this. I'll have to check it out, if only because I've known so many Mennonites & read about the Amish.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by honeychile

I missed out on that one! There was a Brandied Fruit that went around for a while (we called it "how to become a diabetic"!) . . . .

Thanks for reminding me of that one. My mother was big into the similar Sherried Fruit fad in the late 70s-early 80s. Could. Not. Stand. The stuff. Still makes me shudder to think about it.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Thanks for reminding me of that one. My mother was big into the similar Sherried Fruit fad in the late 70s-early 80s. Could. Not. Stand. The stuff. Still makes me shudder to think about it.

I never tried it, but a friend of my mother's made a huge batch - like those stoneware jugs, only clear. She once opened it in front of me, and I got a buzz from the fumes!

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by carnation

You can make your own yeast starter or get some from a friend but the deal is that if you get some, you share it with 3 others.

One of my co-workers once gave me something like this, but I privately thought it was kind of a gross concept and potentially unsanitary, so I threw it away.

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

One of my co-workers once gave me something like this, but I privately thought it was kind of a gross concept and potentially unsanitary, so I threw it away.

The 22 year old me is kind of in agreement; "germs..."

But, damn, the 7 year old me was like "NOM NOM NOM!"

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

One of my co-workers once gave me something like this, but I privately thought it was kind of a gross concept and potentially unsanitary, so I threw it away.

Yes! This! My mom was really into this when I was in grade school and would have multiple batches going. Since you never fully use up the starter, there could be specks of flour and drops of milk that are YEARS old. Ohmamajammacreepywilliesahhh.

[ForeverRoses]

My mother-in-law makes this- but she doesn't keep the starter for very long. She usually bakes all of it and then starts another starter later.

She would make this when I was pregnant with my oldest (I lived with the in-laws for four months when my husband was transfered to Indy and before I quit my job and moved) and I gained 9 lbs in one month because I would eat half a loaf for breakfast every morning.

It smells really darn good when you wake up to the smell of it baking!

[honeychile]

When you think about it, wasn't most bread baked at home in the 1800's leavened with a sourdough starter? If you know the "host", you know whether or not it's worth using. I think.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by honeychile

When you think about it, wasn't most bread baked at home in the 1800's leavened with a sourdough starter? If you know the "host", you know whether or not it's worth using. I think.

Depended on whether one was near a brewery, lots of yeast at a brewery. Baker's and brewer's yeast are a different species than the yeast used for sourdough.

I think yeast availability, as well as affording dishware is one reason why there is some kind of flat bread or cracker all over the world. Think about it, tortillas, naan, pita, lefse, tortas, matzoh, lavash, hardtack, crackers, all unleavened bread items and all kinds of tasty, plus great for putting other food on when one doesn't have dishes or utensils.