Any Bakers out here today?

[glynndah]

Does anyone here have an experience with "starter"? I was "gifted" with a plastic bag full of white goop and a recipe. I'm ready to bake the Amish Friendship Loaf, but the recipe calls for adding more milk and flour and sugar and making enough to give to friends. I don't have 4 friends, let alone 4 Amish ones, to ambush with this edible chain letter.

I may keep all the stuff if I had some idea of what to with it. Can I just use the amount I've got without feeding it and be done with it? Can I use this starter for any recipe calling for starter, such as sourdough bread, or are there different compositions of the stuff and I'm stuck with mountains of Amish Friendship bread every 10 days?

Thank you for any help.

 

[3113]

Does anyone here have an experience with "starter"? I was "gifted" with a plastic bag full of white goop and a recipe. I'm ready to bake the Amish Friendship Loaf, but the recipe calls for adding more milk and flour and sugar and making enough to give to friends. I don't have 4 friends, let alone 4 Amish ones, to ambush with this edible chain letter.

Hey, I'm sure some of us would be willing to send you our addresses for a friendship loaf...but that's if you really want to make them all now.

I don't know much about starters, but I think that they do keep and you don't have to use it all here and now.

 

[Recidiva]

What kind of starter?

I know sourdough and coffee cake.

As a kid I was the happy owner of a "Herman" for a while:

I even gave sourdough a try earlier this year - too much work though. Glass implements, wooden stirring spoons - I kept using metal and cursing. Have to admit I ended up throwing it out. Too much pressure and I felt guilty that I didn't want to stir daily.

Ingredients

STARTER

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

HERMAN BREAD
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
2 whole egg
2/3 cup cooking oil (I use canola)
1 cup nuts or raisins, boiled & drained (I use pecans)

TOPPING
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

GLAZE
1/2 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

Directions

1STARTER: Stir Ingredients together, mixing well, in a gallon container.
2Cover tightly and refrigerate.
3Feed Herman the same 3 Starter ingredients (above) every 5 days for a total of 4 times (20 days).
4Stir Herman daily.
5When you are ready to bake a Herman Cake, you should have about eight cups of starter.
6Bake Herman cake (recipe below) on the 25th day from the first feeding.

7***Keep your own starter growing, use some to bake a Herman Cake, and give some to friends.

8***SHARING YOUR STARTER: If someone gives you a cup of Herman Starter, you must feed it for 10 days before you bake with it.
9Day 1: Feed Starter with 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup milk.
10Stir, cover and refrigerate.
11Day 2-4: Stir.
12Leave in refrigerator.
13Day 5: Feed Starter again with 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup milk.
14Stir, cover and refrigerate.
15Day 6-9: Stir.
16Leave in refrigerator.

17***Herman should now be about 4 cups: use 2 cups to bake, give 1 cup to friend, and keep 1 cup to grow more Starter.

18***Day 10: MAKE HERMAN CAKE AS FOLLOWS: Mix all Herman Cake ingredients together, along with 2 cups of Herman Starter, and pour into a greased/floured bundt pan.
19Sprinkle top with Topping mixture.
20Bake 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
21Or use a 15x19-2" pan and bake 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
22TOPPING MIXTURE: Mix together all Topping ingredients and sprinkle over cake BEFORE baking.
23GLAZE: Mix all Glaze ingredients together and cook for 5 minutes.
24Pour over top of hot baked Herman Cake.

 

[glynndah]

Hey, I'm sure some of us would be willing to send you our addresses for a friendship loaf...but that's if you really want to make them all now.

I don't know much about starters, but I think that they do keep and you don't have to use it all here and now.

The recipe makes two, but before I can mix it up, I have to make enough starter for four more batches. I'm sure that goop will travel just fine and you don't have to do anything to it for the first few days...

Expect your plastic bag in the mail.

 

[3113]

The recipe makes two, but before I can mix it up, I have to make enough starter for four more batches. I'm sure that goop will travel just fine and you don't have to do anything to it for the first few days...

Expect your plastic bag in the mail.

Ack! No! Bread yes, starter no. I misunderstood! Don't perpetuate this chain letter, Glynndah! Put a stop the Amish Friendship Bread here and now before it takes over the continent!

 

[carsonshepherd]

You don't have to make more starter out of it. You can just keep it at its current capacity by just feeding it according to instructions, without dividing it; you can use it all up without replenishing it, or you can just let it die.

If you were asking about cakes or pastries, I'd be a lot more helpful.

 

[glynndah]

Ack! No! Bread yes, starter no. I misunderstood! Don't perpetuate this chain letter, Glynndah! Put a stop the Amish Friendship Bread here and now before it takes over the continent!

I'm requesting your name for the Christmas gift exchange. That plastic bag will be really pretty with a poinsettia sticker or two slapped on it.

You don't have to make more starter out of it. You can just keep it at its current capacity by just feeding it according to instructions, without dividing it; you can use it all up without replenishing it, or you can just let it die.

If you were asking about cakes or pastries, I'd be a lot more helpful.

Cakes or pastries aren't a problem. Those I'm very good at. I've just never worked with anything I had to feed and grow first. Yeast, yes. Starter, no.

 

[3113]

I'm requesting your name for the Christmas gift exchange. That plastic bag will be really pretty with a poinsettia sticker or two slapped on it.

Changing my name and moving to another country where things routinely get lost in the mail....

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I've been baking and making flapjacks with sourdough for years. Is great fun. Heck, I've even gotten kids started on it. There is something magic about making pancakes so good that you don't even want syrup, just butter.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Glynnda, sweety. Starter is the easiest thing in the world. All you need to is keep it warm until is smells like good grain alcohol, then move it to the frige. Feed it once in a while and it'll keep forever.

If if dies (or gets green mold ) then just wash out the container really well. Put in water, flour and a little sugar and leave it open to the air until the yeast beasties find it and it'll make itself. Only takes a couple days.

 

[3113]

There is something magic about making pancakes so good that you don't even want syrup, just butter.

I never want syrup. I'm a savory over sweet sort of person when it comes to breakfast foods. Butter only for my pancakes, thank you.

 

[shereads]

Does anyone here have an experience with "starter"? I was "gifted" with a plastic bag full of white goop and a recipe. I'm ready to bake the Amish Friendship Loaf, but the recipe calls for adding more milk and flour and sugar and making enough to give to friends. I don't have 4 friends, let alone 4 Amish ones, to ambush with this edible chain letter.

I may keep all the stuff if I had some idea of what to with it. Can I just use the amount I've got without feeding it and be done with it? Can I use this starter for any recipe calling for starter, such as sourdough bread, or are there different compositions of the stuff and I'm stuck with mountains of Amish Friendship bread every 10 days?

Thank you for any help.

Don't do it! Don't do it!

My late aunt loved to bake, but when she got sucked into farming this bread, it became an obsession. You can't let the starter "die." It has to be taken with you on vacations or provided with a babysitter. Seriously. Don't do it!

"Amish Friendship Bread" is the chain-letter of the food world.


Edited to add: the bread my aunt basked with this "starter" wasn't even in the Top Ten of things she was capable of baking. It seemed a lot of trouble for not a lot of added benefit.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I never want syrup. I'm a savory over sweet sort of person when it comes to breakfast foods. Butter only for my pancakes, thank you.

then I should make flapjacks for you and hubby some time.

 

[3113]

then I should make flapjacks for you and hubby some time.

ah, but he like syrup. He was raised the right way with sugars and syrups on the breakfast foods. I'm the one who was raised weird and still can't understand why someone would put powdered sugar on their French Toast

 

[voluptuary_manque]

ah, but he like syrup. He was raised the right way with sugars and syrups on the breakfast foods. I'm the one who was raised weird and still can't understand why someone would put powdered sugar on their French Toast

Ever tried strawberries and sour cream on waffles?

 

[Guest]

Don't do it! Don't do it!

My late aunt loved to bake, but when she got sucked into farming this bread, it became an obsession. You can't let the starter "die." It has to be taken with you on vacations or provided with a babysitter. Seriously. Don't do it!

"Amish Friendship Bread" is the chain-letter of the food world.


Edited to add: the bread my aunt basked with this "starter" wasn't even in the Top Ten of things she was capable of baking. It seemed a lot of trouble for not a lot of added benefit.

I have nothing to add, other than I envision this for the starter:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/sweetsubsarahh/theblob.jpg

 

[shereads]

I have nothing to add, other than I envision this for the starter:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/sweetsubsarahh/theblob.jpg

This explains why I once found Steve McQueen in a loaf of my aunt's sourdough bread.

 

[Guest]

This explains why I once found Steve McQueen in a loaf of my aunt's sourdough bread.

How'd he slice up?

 

[Maeve_redux]

If you can pull the recipe off, Amish Friendship Bread is really good. Yes, you have to feed the starter and keep it going, but it will keep in the fridge for a while.

Sourdough starter is dead easy. Get a glass canning jar. Dump in a cup of whole wheat flour and a cup of lukewarm water and stir with a wooden spoon. Let it sit on the counter until it gets bubbly. No stirring or anything needed. Just scrape off the top layer (it will probably turn black - that stuff's poisonous) and toss that bit away before using the rest. If you want to keep the starter going, put aside a cup before starting the recipe and add more whole wheat flour to it. Once it gets started, you can stick it in the fridge for up to about a week and a half before it dies - just let it sit out overnight before using it to reactivate the gluten.

 

[glynndah]

What kind of starter?

I know sourdough and coffee cake.

As a kid I was the happy owner of a "Herman" for a while:

You named it!?!

Glynnda, sweety. Starter is the easiest thing in the world. All you need to is keep it warm until is smells like good grain alcohol, then move it to the frige. Feed it once in a while and it'll keep forever.

But I don't want to keep it forever. I want to bake these two loaves and maybe have a tiny bit left over to try another kind of bread.

Changing my name and moving to another country where things routinely get lost in the mail....

You think it'll be better after sitting on some loading dock for months!?!

Don't do it! Don't do it!

My late aunt loved to bake, but when she got sucked into farming this bread, it became an obsession. You can't let the starter "die." It has to be taken with you on vacations or provided with a babysitter. Seriously. Don't do it!

"Amish Friendship Bread" is the chain-letter of the food world.


Edited to add: the bread my aunt basked with this "starter" wasn't even in the Top Ten of things she was capable of baking. It seemed a lot of trouble for not a lot of added benefit.

It's kind of a cross between a chain letter and a really ugly kitten you find on your doorstep. A pregnant one.

I have nothing to add, other than I envision this for the starter:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/sweetsubsarahh/theblob.jpg

I'm supposed to "burp" the bag as it grows! *shudder*

 

[glynndah]

Update!

I almost followed the recipe. (I cut it in half.) It's not very good bread, but it will make an excellent shortcake to be served with strawberries tonight.