Friendship Bread

Have you heard of the Amish Friendship Bread? Well, this is it.

This recipe was given to me by an office mate, along with the starter kit .

The starter kit is simply a mix of flour, milk, sugar and yeast left to sit on the counter for 10 days while it ferments. And you are not supposed to refrigerate the mixture, nor are metal bowl and metal utensils recommended for this particular recipe as cold temperature kills the yeast.

I tried it the first time because I was curious. Then after 5 days of squeezing the mixture (in the baggy) and with it sitting in the counter, it became bubbly and it started giving off a "sour" smell. I started to have serious doubts about it. But my researched assured me that the bubbles and the smell were a part of the fermentation process.

After 10 days, you will end up with 5 more starter kits out of the original one you have. The idea is to pass on the kits to your other friends to "spread the love". Well, I ran out of girlfriends to hand the starter kits to, so I froze the rest of them - which is an excellent idea because when I feel like making the bread, i just pull one kit out, and........ tadaaahhhh! A very good cinnammon bread in ten days!
The batter is actually a good base that you can use to make many different kinds of breads. I have tried making this as a carrot bread and apple bread before. This time though, I decided to add a cup of walnuts, 1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips and the zest of an entire orange. Hmmnnn... cinnammon, chocolate and orange - isn't that a heavenly combination or what?

The bread came out looking a little well done on the outside. I had to leave it in the oven a bit longer than called-for because the cake was still a bit moist in the center when I pulled it out. Besides, I wanted the top to be crunchy as I sprinkled cinnammon sugar on it. Yummy! For me, it'sthe best part of the bread! The bread is not too sweet ...perfect with coffee. With a breakfast like this, my day is done!