A Home-Reared Chef! Cook by Instinct, Recipe #19!
This recipe is in defense of the Amish Friendship Bread, recently referred to as stinky bread!
Okay, I realize that a personal opinion has been expressed. And I do not have a problem with that. But forgive me? I can’t help but jump at the chance to rescue this old recipe’s reputation. A recipe that has been floating around from one place and another forever (seen on the Net, e-mails delivered, or brownish-looking goo seen in sealed bags with copies of instructions left on the counters in the break rooms at work, and a handwritten sign telling you to feel free to take one home). It is free, after all; not much in life is free. But you don’t know who’s touched it, and it doesn’t look very appealing. You open the bag and YUK! It stinks.
Yes, it is pungent. It’s sourdough, people!
I love the smell of a healthy, ripe-smelling sourdough! So I begin to plot when I should bake my loaves of bread, as I can easily imagine the taste of my finished creation, sugary-sweet, spicy-cinnamon and vanilla. Yums! However I do not share; I keep the extra batter for my family.
Note: I have also created another version of the Amish starter; the recipe can be found in DivineCaroline’s Desserts section, in “Brown-Sugar Sourdough Pancakes.”
Amish Cinnamon Friendship Bread
(This will take ten days, and you will get two loaves, or one Bundt cake, plus two starters.)
Day One:
Do nothing. Just leave it on the counter.
Days Two, Three, Four and Five:
Mush the bag twice a day.
Day Six:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Mush together.
Days Seven, Eight and Nine:
Let the air out of the bag and mush twice a day.
Day Ten:
Pour/squeeze the starter into a large bowl. Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir together and measure out 1 cup batter into each of 2 large ziplock bags. Keep one (or both) for yourself and give one away to a proclaimed cook or trusted friend.
To the remaining batter in the bowl (over 1 cup), add:
1 cup softened butter (I do not use oil), 2/3 cup cream (I prefer using rich cream versus regular milk), 3 extra-large, and 2 Tbsp vanilla, and mix well.
Take middle rack out of oven and pre-heat to 350
Have ready: In a small bowl, mix 1 mounded tsp. cinnamon and a generous 1/3 cup sugar, set aside
Butter two loaf pans (or 1 Bundt pan), set aside
In large bowl, mix:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large box of instant vanilla or banana pudding mix
(I do not add salt because there is salt in the butter.)
1. Mix dry ingredients with the batter, mixing well.
2. Sprinkle half of the sugar/cinnamon mixture on the bottom of pan(s), fill with batter, and sprinkle the rest of the sugar/cinnamon on top.
3. Optional: 1 cup chopped nuts
Put middle rack back in oven, place pan(s) on rack and lower heat to 325 degrees, and bake for 1 hour (do the tooth-pick test and bake longer if needed, 5 to 10 minutes more at 300º F.
If things slip by a day or two, it’s OK. This is a very forgiving recipe. Enjoy and don’t forget to share … or not!!!
