Bake My Day / Friendship Bread

I was first introduced to Friendship Bread back in the USA. Since I think it is a cute idea, I wanted to share it with my friends in Finland. Then I thought; why not to show everybody how to make it. So, here we go!

The idea on the friendship bread is that one friend keeps one part of the bread starter to herself to bake her own bread, and then she gives part of the bread starter to 3 of her friends, who then will keep their share for baking and pass the starter once again to 3 of their friends, and so on...

Since you first don't have the bread starter, this is how it is made:
-1 package dry active yeast
-1/4 cup warm water (2,5dl)
-1 cup all purpose flour (2,5dl)
-1 cup sugar (2,5dl)
-1 cup milk (2,5dl)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it stand in room temperature until it bubbly. This is day one.
Day 2 - 4: stir the starter
Day 5: stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk (2,5dl for each). Cover again and let it stand in room temperature
Day 6 - 9: stir the starter

Day 10: stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk (2,5dl for each). Time to bake your first bread and also share the starter with your friends!

First, take 1 cup (2,5dl) for each of your 3 friends. Put your friends' starter in a ziplock bag, so it will be easier for you to move and give to your friends. Print out instructions to give along with the starter.

Second, you should be left with one cup (2,5dl) of the starter in your original bowl. That is your starter that you are going to use to make your bread. Read from the instruction below how to bake your bread. Start reading from the "To the remaining batter in the bowl" part.








Here are the instructions you can print out for you friends to give along with their starters. If you need the instructions in Finnish, just e-mail me and I can send them to you.
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Friendship Bread

You have just received a starter for a friendship bread. Follow these instructions and you will bake a  a yummy, sweet bread in 10 days, plus you will be able to share the starter with your friends.

Day 1: Do nothing. This is the date on which you receive the bag. Squish-squash-mush the bag.
Day 2: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 3: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 4: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 5: Add to the bag 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk (2,5dl each) Squish-squash-mush the bag.
Day 6: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 7: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 8: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 9: Squish-squash-mush the bag
Day 10: BAKING AND SHARING DAY!! Add to the bag 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk (2,5dl each) Squish-squash-mush the bag until all ingredients are mixed well. Then take out 1 cup (2,5dl) of the batter for each of your 3 friends. Put your friends' starter in a ziplock bag, so it will be easier for you to move and give to your friends. Don't forget to give these instructions to your friends!

Pre-heat oven to 325F / 175F and grease 2 baking dishes (9x5 inches, 23x13cm) or 1 big one.

To the remaining batter in the bowl, add:
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup (2,5 dl) oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup (2,5dl) sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups (2,5dl) flour

Mix well and pour the batter into 2 baking dishes (9x5 inches, 23x13cm) or 1 big one. Bake for about 40-50 minutes or till done. Let the bread cool before taking out of the baking dish.

Happy Friends & Happy Baking!
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I baked my bread last night and it turned out awesome! It is very sweet. For Finns this is considered more of a coffee cake than bread but either way, it is very delicious! Here's few pictures to show how to make it.

Mixing in all the ingredients.

Here are my unbaked breads ready to go to the oven. I sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top for extra yummyness!

All done!

So good!! The sugar I sprinkled on top made a nice yummy crust to the bread,

We ate half of the bread immediately...

P.S. Do you want to hear a funny story? This was actually my second bread that I baked. My first one didn't turn out as good because I accidentally used old rancid oil! I didn't check the date on the oil bottle and just poured in the batter. I thought I smelled something funny but I thought it was ok. After I baked and tasted the bread I realized something had gone terribly wrong. It tasted nasty! Then it dawned on me that it was the oil. So, I threw away the bread and started all over again with a new starter that I kept for myself instead of giving it to a friend.

I guess today's lesson is that crap happens to all of us! So, if you think that you can't bake or cook, think again! Don't get discouraged because all these blogs and Facebook updates always show people doing everything so perfectly. That is not the case. People like to give out the impression that everything is great&perfect but a lot of times they just censored out the bad. I like to admit my mishaps because I can learn from them, and hopefully I can help others not to do the same mistake. Like this time with the bread, we learned that... ALWAYS USE FRESH INGREDIENTS!! (*SMILE*)


Happy Baking!!!