Amish Friendship Cinnamon Cake

Contributed by

Linda Mellor

Important preparation tips

• Do not use a metal spoon or a metal bowl for mixing the fermented batter.
• Do not refridgerate the fermented batter.
• If air gets into or builds up in the bag of the fermented batter, let it out.
• It is normal for the batter to thicken, bubble and ferment.
• The gases that the batter produces are not all that pleasent smelling! =)

Day-by-day instructions

• Day 1: You will receive a bag of fermented batter from a friend in a one gallon sized ziploc bag. You don't need to do anything with it yet. Just lay the bag flat out on a counter or table.
• Day 2: Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter.
• Day 3: Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter.
• Day 4: Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter.
• Day 5: Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter.
• Day 6: Add 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk to the bag. Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter. Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter.
• Day 7: Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter. Let out any air building up in the bag.
• Day 8: Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter. Let out any air building up in the bag.
• Day 9: Squeeze the bag several times throughout the day to mix up the batter. Let out any air building up in the bag.
• Day 10: In a large, non-metal bowl, combine the batter with 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk. Mix the batter with a wooden or plastic spoon. Make 4 1-cup starter bags in 1-gallon resealable plastic bags. Give these bags to family and friends with a copy of these instructions. After making the 4 starter bags, there should be batter left over. Use this batter to make the cake below.

Cake Ingredients

• remaining batter
• 1 cup canola oil (you can drop this down to 1/3 cup oil if you add fruit or something else moist)
• 1 cup sugar (you can drop this down to 1/2 cup sugar if you add fruit or something else sweet)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 large eggs (you can use egg substitutes instead of real eggs)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 small box vanilla instant pudding

Topping

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix all of the cake ingredients together by hand.
• In a separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients.
• This cake can be made in into muffins and cakes of various shapes and sizes. If you are cooking this cake in a pan, grease the pan well.
• If you are cooking this cake in a pan and flipping the pan over to remove the cake (for example, a Bundt pan), sprinkle the topping on the bottom of the pan.
• Pour the batter into the pans/muffin containors.
• Bake until a toothpick comes out cleanly and the cake is done. If baking in a tube pan, allow 50 to 55 minutes.