A Recipe for Friendship...#28 (2024)

FAQs

Is Amish Friendship Bread the same as sourdough? ›

A Herman starter or Amish Friendship Bread Starter is typically made with milk, flour, sugar and commercial yeast. A sourdough starter is generally made only of flour and water. A Herman starter will be sweeter and more mellow flavored than a sourdough starter.

This is usually the case in cold environments (AC under 70F, winter kitchens). If your starter is barely bubbling or not bubbling at all 12-24 hours after the last feeding, simply stir it again and let the jar sit for a day or two. Then feed again and see if you get bubbles.

If too much moisture escapes, the bread could dry out. Check expiration dates and use fresh ingredients. For Amish Friendship Bread in particular, you'll want to make sure your yeast (if starting a starter from scratch), baking soda, and baking powder are fresh.

First of all, one of the most common reasons quick breads (and layer cakes as well) sink is that the pan is overfilled. If the batter reaches the top of the pan and still needs to rise, it will collapse.

The original instructions for Amish Friendship Bread states that you should not use metal bowls or utensils. The original reason was because there's a chemical reaction that occurs between the fermenting starter and metal.

If your starter looks discolored with a pink or green tinge, has mold (a no-brainer but worth mentioning), or if the sharp acetone smell doesn't go away, discard your starter and make a new one from scratch. It's sad, but so is food poisoning. The rule in the Friendship Bread Kitchen is: when in doubt, throw it out.

You should store your starter in the fridge if: You plan to bake 2-4x a month. If you don't have a plan to regularly bake, then freeze your starter. Refrigerated starters still have to be fed regularly, and if you are not using it, you'll need to discard some starter regularly as well.

Active Amish friendship starter will keep for up to three months in the freezer. "You can also pop your starter in the fridge, but you can't forget about it like you can with freezing your starter," Gee says.

Amish friendship bread is a type of bread or cake made from a sourdough starter that is often shared in a manner similar to a chain letter. The starter is a substitute for baking yeast and can be used to make many kinds of yeast-based breads, shared with friends, or frozen for future use.

Excess yeast causes extra air bubbles to form, creating holes in the baked bread. You prepared the recipe correctly. The interaction of the various ingredients and the preparation method used for French bread and sourdough bread are intended to create a bread which has a coarse texture and uneven holes.

Why does my bread explode on the side? ›

If the dough is too wet it can create extra steam in the bread and add to the pressure that is already building up in the bread by the gases produced by yeast. This will cause your bread to burst in odd spots and not where you have slashed it. Try reducing the hydration of your bread dough.

But folding is a more gentle process than kneading, and it works out large air pockets that can form as the dough rises, giving you a more even dough by the end of the rising time. Recipes vary in the number of folds made and how many times the process is repeated, but the approach is generally the same.

You might also see the term “levain bread” or “pain au levain,” which are other names for sourdough bread. Because the term levain is French for leaven, which is almost always taken to mean naturally fermented bread, the term levain is often used synonymously with sourdough.

Additionally, sourdough fermentation increases the availability of essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Ezekiel bread, on the other hand, stands out for its use of sprouted whole grains and legumes, which provide a rich source of nutrients, including fiber, vitamins, and protein.

But what if you're craving that distinctive tang and don't have a sourdough starter on hand? Enter yogurt — the unexpected substitute that can give your bread that familiar zing while creating a unique twist on the classic.

Amish friendship bread is a type of bread or cake made from a sourdough starter that is often shared in a manner similar to a chain letter.