You Take the Cake…and the Friendship Bread!

Good evening, dear friends!

How’s the weekend going?  We’ve had another busy, fun one…looking forward to a quiet Sunday…

Just a couple of things to share with you today.  I had to make this card just for fun, because, well, it’s fall…and when it starts to feel fallish, I start baking like crazy!

I love this image from Crafty Secrets’ “Homemade” Images & Journal Notes booklet…such a happy,  kitschy mamma cooking up a storm for her family!

A bit of Dazzling Diamonds for sparkle on the goodies, some lovely lace and rick-rack trim…a bit of framing with platinum Stickles, a button, and that’s about it!

Earlier in the week, I said I’d share our favorite Amish Friendship Bread recipe…so here we go!  (This will be a LONG recipe—lots of steps—but easy peasy!)

Ready? 

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD STARTER

1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsps.)

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Stir together (using a non-metallic spoon) 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour and 1 cup milk in a non-metallic bowl or container.  Add yeast mixture and stir.  Cover; leave at room temperature.

Day 1:  Do nothing; it has been stirred.

Days 2, 3, and 4: Stir

Day 5: Add 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour…mix with non-metallic spoon.

Day 6, 7, 8 and 9:  Stir.

Day 10:  Add 1 cup milk, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2cup flour and stir.  Remove 1 1/2cup to make your first bread; give 3 cups to friends along with the above directions, starting with Day 2, and the recipe for friendship bread.

You can either start the 10-day process again (starting with Day 2), or make your friendship bread from your 1-cup starter.  You can also freeze the starter in 1-cup measures for later use.  Frozen starter will take at least 3 hours at room temperature to thaw before using.

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD

1.  Put the entire contents in a non-metallic bowl.

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

3.  To remaining batter in bowl add:

3 eggs

1 cup oil (or 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

1 large box of vanilla pudding

4. Grease 2 large loaf pans and in separate bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Dust the greased pans with half of this mixture.

5.  Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the top.

6.  Bake for one hour.  Cool until bread loosens from pan evenly (about 10 minutes).  Then out into cooling rack.  Serve warm or cold.

Lots of steps, but not hard to do at all!  My girls love this recipe, and take great joy in stirring it---or squishing it—every day.  (Can also keep the starter going in a large ziplock bag—just squishing the batter in the bag each day instead of stirring it in a bowl).

Here it is again with my homemade lemon curd on top—yum!

Give it a try!  So much fun to make and share—let me know how you like it!

Hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful…

Sweet Dreams!

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Amish Friendship Bread