Following is a tried-and-true Amish Friendship Bread starter and my
favorite version of Friendship Bread. I have successfully frozen the
starter for later use. If anyone is interested in obtaining the back
issue of "The Baking Sheet" mentioned in the article excerpt, call The
King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalogue at 1-800-827-6836. Ask for Volume
IV, Issue 8. The cost is $3.50. (Also, in *another* issue, there is an
article and a recipe for making Friendship Starter from Classic
Sourdough starter. The article is in Volume VIII, Issue 1. I have a copy
of that issue, so e-mail me privately if you would like the recipe.)
BTW, in MasterCook 4.0 (Win95), I saved the Amish Friendship Bread
Starter recipe as an ingredient. I then edited the "volume" part of the
ingredient from "1 serving" to "4 cups." Then, I used *1* cup of the
ingredient in my bread recipe. This made sure that the nutritional
information was correct.
Julia
* Exported from MasterCook *
Amish Friendship Starter
Recipe By : Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New . . .
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Breads Easy
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 cups all-purpose flour -- divided
2 cups warm water
1 active dry yeast(package)
2 cups milk -- divided
2 cups granulated sugar -- divided
DAY 1: In a glass or ceramic bowl, mix 2 cups flour, warm water and
yeast thoroughly. Leave uncovered on kitchen counter; don't refrigerate.
(You may have received one cup of starter from a friend. If so, you do
not have to make the above culture and can directly to the bread
recipes, unless you want to keep the starter going. If you do, then
continue with the following directions.)
DAYS 2, 3 and 4: Stir well with wooden spoon.
DAY 5: Stir and add 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Stir
well. This is called "feeding the starter."
DAYS 6, 7 and 8: Stir well with wooden spoon.
DAY 9: Stir and add remaining 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup
sugar. Stir well.
DAYS 10 and 11: Stir well with wooden spoon.
DAY 12: Ladle 1 cup starter into each of 4 containers (such as glass
jars with lids) and refrigerate. Use one in a recipe, keep one for your
use another time and give the two others to friends. Don't forget to
include recipes (including the starter) for your friends.
This recipe is from "Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New from
Midwest Kitchens" by Marcia Adams. It was reprinted in the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (mid-1990's, exact date unknown). Part of the article
appears below.
"Some of you have learned to tame the relentless feed-and-bake,
feed-and-bake cycle that dooms many pots of starter. When Ann Simpson of
Bridgeton makes bread, she freezes one cup of the starter for the next
batch. Be sure to let the starter come to room temperature and stir well
before using.
"Last fall, a friend gave some starter to Etta Taylor of St. Louis. 'I
was really beginning to feel disenchanted with its reproductive
necessities when I got a copy of "The Baking Sheet" from King Arthur
Flour (in Vermont),' she wrote. 'This gave me the courage just to keep a
container of this starter in the fridge (alongside my 20-year-old
regular sourdough pot!) and feed it with some sugar about every two
weeks. Before I get ready to make some more bread, I double the starter
and use about 2-1/2 cups of it for the bread recipe and return the rest
to the fridge. Now I feel like *I* am in control.' "
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES : "It is my observation that having this starter around is like
getting married -- it is a real commitment, and it is forever. And like
that institution, it gets better with age," wrote Marcia Adams, author
of "Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New from Midwest Kitchens."
"Some rules to observe: Use non-metallic bowls; use wooden utensils for
stirring, not an electric mixer. Leave the starter outside the
refrigerator, uncovered. This is so it can pick up from the natural
yeast flying about your kitchen. If the open dish bothers you terribly,
it can be covered with a single layer of cheesecloth.
"Do not use the starter the day you feed it; the bread will not rise as
high. Do not refrigerate it until day 12. The starter really multiplies
after the fifth day, so be sure your container is large enough; I use a
10-cup bowl. I also keep a paper and pencil next to it and write down
what I do when, so I don't get off schedule."
* Exported from MasterCook *
Nik's Friendship Bread
Recipe By : Leroy Nikolaisen
Serving Size : 16 Preparation Time :1:30
Categories : Breads Easy
Fruit
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup Amish Friendship Starter -- at room temperature
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
5 1/8 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix
(I use Jello, 5.1 oz., 6-serving size)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 medium Granny Smith apples
peeled, cored and chopped
(if the apples are large, use only 2 or 3)
1 cup chopped nuts -- optional
1/2 cup raisins, seedless
Grease 2 (8-1/2x4-1/2-inch) loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together starter, eggs, oil and vanilla.
In a separate bowl or Ziploc bag, combine flour, sugar, pudding mix,
baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir into starter
mixture. Fold in apples, nuts and raisins. Transfer batter to prepared
loaf pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until bread tests
done. Allow bread to cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove loaves from pans
and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.
Wrap loaves in plastic wrap to keep bread moist, or freeze individual
slices and warm in microwave as needed. This bread tastes best the
second day.
Makes 2 loaves (16 servings).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES : To make muffins from this recipe, lightly grease three 12-cup
muffin tins. Transfer the batter to the muffin tins, filling the cups
about 3/4-full. Bake at 350°F for about 23 minutes, or until the muffins
test done. Let cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pans; place
muffins on wire racks to finish cooling. Makes 36 muffins.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 5409 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0