When I was on the Radio Show with Jan' D'Atri there was time to chat between live sessions and we got talking about sourdough starters and Amish Friendship bread. I had read earlier in the week what she had written on her website about her dear brother Johnny's Sweet Friendship Bread (including how to make a starter). He had passed away at a very young age and left behind some beautiful kiddos. I bawled my ever-lovin'-eyeballs out reading about it. Mind you, that is the moment that Ace came walking by and saw me blubbering at my computer. I promised him it wasn't a female hormone disorder (yaa riiiight)...I think it was probably because I have my own dear brother Johnny who I love dearly. That fact combined with female hormones and a complete lack of chocolate turned me into a blubbering idiot...in a good way. I couldn't imagine a better tribute to a family member than to make a starter that you share with friends...especially friends who love to bake. Jan came to see me at work a day or two later. Aside from the absolute thrill of having a Phoenix cooking and television legend come visit me (and invite me back on her show often)...she brought me this jar of Johnny's sweet friendship bread starter that she's loved and had taken care of since Johnny's death six years ago.
When I actually made the bread, I was in heaven. It is a light, creamy, tender, moist, vanilla bean loaf completely enshrouded in this caramelized buttery spiced-sugar crust that just melts in your mouth. Seriously. Look at that crust. It is ridiculous. It is a miracle. It is...evil. Yup. I'm saying it. Evil. Add to that the fact that I turned the original recipe into a lemon version by adding fresh lemon zest and some Crushed Meyer lemon olive oil. I topped this with a gentle kiss of lemon juice for tartness mixed with a hint of Rose Water drizzled over the warm loaf after baking. It is subtle. It is sweet and fresh...and amazing.
That being said...here's the details on Amish Friendship bread starter.
Obtain a starter or make your own using the directions in the post on Johnny's Sweet Friendship Bread. I was just giddy to get some. I know some people who, if they know you have friendship bread starter, will run away from you at church...but I'm not that friend. I'm a real friend. The directions are pretty clear about how many days to feed it and how much to stir it...and I wish you could just smell it...
Adapted from Johnny's Sweet Friendship Bread
Bread:
1 cup friendship bread starter
1 cup friendship bread starter
1/2 cup Crushed Meyer lemon olive oil
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all purpose flour
3 egg
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Natural Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste
1 box instant vanilla pudding (or one batch of my homemade instant pudding mix)
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all purpose flour
3 egg
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Natural Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste
1 box instant vanilla pudding (or one batch of my homemade instant pudding mix)
Zest of one lemon, micro-fine
Coating:
3 tablespoons sugar (mixed together with cinnamon for coating pan and topping)
1 tablespoon Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Blend here
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature (for coating pans)
After baking drizzle:
Friendship Bread Directions:
Mix together all ingredients except butter and sugar/cinnamon mixture for topping. Make sure your lemon zest is very fine grated.
Pour batter into loaves and coat with butter and remaining sugar and cinnamon.
I lightly score the top of the loaf with a knife so that when it bakes it has a nice middle-of-the-road break.
There you go my darlings. Some beautiful sweet starter...and a lot of love. For more details on other sourdoughs, see my posts on Sourdough.
Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess
1 tablespoon Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Blend here
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature (for coating pans)
After baking drizzle:
1 tsp Rose Water (optional)
1T lemon juice
The genius coating is achieved very simply. Combine the 3T sugar and 1T Wise Woman of the East Blend. The genius of this blend, aside from the fact that I love it as a pastry chef, is that it is a one bottle grab. Saigon cinnamon, spices, citrus, rose-petal and lavender.
Grease two 8 inch bread loaf pans generously with butter and dust with sugar and spice.
Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from pan immediately and lightly drizzle the top of the warm loaf with the lemon juice/rosewater combination. Allow to cool and slice.
Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess
8 comments:
I have to say that Amish Friendship Bread is one of my favorites. Like all house wives, I was offered some when my kids were little (and we were poor, poor, poor). I kept my starter and eventually tripled it, never giving any away. When the new starter was ready, I would use all but the reccommended 3 "give aways" which went back to grow another triple batch for me. I used apples (sometimes with cranberries) and a topping of brown sugar and cinnamon, blueberries, what ever I had for berries or fruit. I made snacks for school lunches, after school treats , dessert as well as keeping loaves to wrap as holiday gifts. It was fantastic stuff! Thanks for the recipe, I think I'll start some again.
I am SO going to make this starter! Gee, do I have enough things growing in my kitchen now? There is always room for one more!
I looked at the friendshipbreadkitchen.com website (which is all about Amish Friendship Bread and has many variations) and their starter includes yeast, but Johnny's (the starter you pointed to) doesn't. What does having yeast or not in the starter do to the end product? Does the flour, sugar, and milk create its own leavening?
Elaine,
Johnny's uses the natural yeast that is inherently present in small amounts in flour and air. This is a much more natural approach. Having commercially made yeast in the starter will make a faster starter initially, but the flavor will be similar. It is a personal preference for bakers.
Chef Tess, thanks for the reply! I have another question: on the FriendshipBreadKitchen site, many of the loaves looked pretty short and dense, while yours is lovely, tall, and light. I compared your recipe with the basic AFB loaf on the other site, and it's pretty close, with the exception of olive oil and various spices. So how did you get your loaf so high and light? Was it the flour you used? At home I use White Lily, since I live in the South, and that makes baked good lighter and fluffier, even though it's still an all-purpose flour.
Secret is the homemade vanilla pudding mix and the flour (you're right!). I use Honeyville and it is great for baking light fluffy breads.
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Hello There,
this is really very nice blog and looking very nice. this blog is very helpfull for shopping .. we want come back on this blog...
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