A dear friend (and she’s an insanely good chef, too) gave me a starter for Amish Friendship Bread a while ago, and since then I have been nurturing, feeding, and sharing the wealth. But it got me thinking – a tradition that verifiably (of course there’s ambiguity) started in 1999 at a Burning Man bake-off claiming to be Amish? What’s REALLY in the bread, and what’s with all the cautions against metal spoons and for Zip Loc bags?

We took a handful of the starter into my friend Amy’s food lab. Amy isn’t just one of the really good food scientists (and a constant source of nags against my own claims on food science) and a McGee disciple like there’s never been one before, she’s also somehow well supplied with gadgets, tools, and knick knacks that make looking into food such a precise science.

So here it is, a look into Amish Friendship Bread…

Making your own

Somehow lost your starter? Afraid you’ll have to track down that one Amish not making fireplace mantles to get you a new one? Fear not. Mix 1 cup of sugar, flour, and milk in a bowl and add 2 tbsp yeast, let stand for a day. You’re done, this is your Amish Friendship Starter.

Of course, that’s not what AFB is all about. In its core, it’s the mysticism of a gift that keeps on giving, a culture of yeast that survived decades and can be found in tens of thousands of households. Imagine where the yeast microorganisms have been before you, where their ancestors dwelled, and you’ll find a new appreciation for the things we eat. It’s about sharing and caring without loss, getting something for nothing and giving something for nothing in return. A great symbol of what we do, to feed and to be fed.

After making (or receiving) your starter, mush the bag (see note below, it doesn’t have to be a bag) daily. On day six, replenish nutrients by adding a cup of flour, milk, and sugar. Keep mushing every day, and on day 10 add equal parts (one and a half cup, I’d suggest) of flour, sugar, and milk again. Let stand for another day, then portion out three bags of one cup each. Pass one on, use one to make bread (see below), and re-use the last cup as your new/old starter.

Amish Friendship Bread is your average, usual, starter. The “magic” happens in sharing and the recipe below. You could do a lot of different things with this, from breads to sweets, so go crazy. Find something you like, experiment a bit, and maybe send me a link to your recipes.

If you are interested in a much more indepth discussion of baking and starters, check out Nancy Silverman’s “Breads from the La Brea Bakery“.

What’s with the metallic?

Some food items react badly with metal. Making tomato sauce in a copper pan is a surefire way to get some heavy metal poisoning, for example. Acids and Alkaloids, both, have ways to dissolve metallic objects, leeching metals into your food. Cooking and baking doesn’t work in pH neutral environments, so there’s always a case to be made against cheap metallic implements. Over short times, such as a stirring or beating, however, nothing evil should ever come to your starter or dough.

A simple Bread Recipe

A word of caution beforehand. Pastry is an exact science. Unlike savory cooking, where ingredients can often be estimated and taste rules the day, baking bread is not really open to interpretation. The following recipe is easy and can be done quickly – just what the doctor ordered in these financially difficult times. Our resulting bread will be fluffy, almost like a cake, and go well with savory and sweet concoctions.

Preheat our oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of oil or clarified butter
• 1/2 cup of applesauce (for a more savory taste, leave this off and add another 1/2 cup of oil or clarified butter)
• 1/2 cup of milk (whole milk, of course)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon (leave out for a more savory taste or experiment with other spices)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (increase this to taste after you have tried the 1/2 tsp version)
• 2 cups of flour

If your friendship cake is intended to be a dessert or snack, also add

• 5 oz of vanilla instant pudding mix

Grease two loaf pans and mix in a separate bowl 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. Pour the batter into the pans after sprinkling them with about half of your sugar/cinnamon mixture. Dust the batter with the remaining mixture.

Bake that for an hour, and … voila.

There you have it, two loaves of yummy Amish Friendship Bread, ready for consumption. And you don’t even have to mug an Amish for it. Not that I’d advocate mugging the Amish in any way, shape, or form anyways.