Friendship Baked In: The Joy and Tradition of Sharing Starters
This article is part of the Recipe Box Roulette series, an innovative "card game" crafted to pay homage to the curators of long-forgotten or overlooked recipe boxes and breathe new life into their treasured dishes.
There's something special about shared recipes. Those recipes that have been passed down through generations and exchanged between friends. The Friendship Cake, with its chain of fermented starters, embodies the essence of nurturing connections across households.
The Origins of Friendship Cake
When I pulled this recipe card from my Grandma’s recipe box, I was sure it was a recipe for an Amish-style Friendship cake whose origins can be traced back to the 1800s when sourdough starters and sweet breads like Herman cakes were commonplace.
However, as I read through the instructions, it became clear that while it involved a fermented starter like the Amish Friendship bread, this recipe was an entirely different baked good. Though much like the Amish Friendship Bread, the act of dividing and passing along sections of the fermented starter, creates a living culinary tradition of which each baker becomes a part.
Sharing is Caring
At its core, the Friendship Cake ritual revolves around a simple act of generosity - giving a portion of carefully tended starter to loved ones. It’s a culinary chain-letter style of baking that fosters connections, as each recipient is entrusted with nurturing the starter before continuing the cycle by gifting it forward.
As I researched this recipe, it became apparent that this was more like a fruit cake rather than a pound cake style of cake which results from the Amish Friendship Bread recipe. Many of the recipes that I was able to find indicated that it was made during the holiday season, making the act of gifting the starter even more meaningful.
Some bakers add their own creative twists by including heartfelt notes, handwritten recipes, or tokens of appreciation alongside the starter. These personal touches transform the humble cake into a symbol of connection, interweaving food and memories.
Making Lil’s 30 Day Friendship Cake
Yep, you read that right. This Friendship Cake takes 30 days - well actually even more if you haven’t been gifted the starter. I know that in this instant-gratification-90-second-TikTok-trending-recipe age it’s hard to imagine devoting hours let alone days to recipe. But that's exactly what makes this Friendship Cake so special. It's a labor of love, a culinary heirloom passed down through generations, across cultures, and even countries.
Feeding, stirring and watching become a ritual steeped in patience and care. And when baking day finally arrives, you'll be rewarded with a rich, decadent cake. Moist, dense, and packed with complex flavors that can only develop over time.
So while this recipe may seem antiquated in our modern times, the Friendship Cake is a hands-on lesson in slowing down amid our frenzied world. It teaches us to appreciate the journey, not just the destination. So embrace the wait, follow the steps with tenderness, and share the bounty with those you love most. Because some of life's greatest delights are worth the time it takes to create them.
Since I am just starting on my exploration of this recipe, I’ll share my experience as the next 54 days unfold. Grandma must have been gifted the starter as her recipe begins by feeding 1 1/2 cups of starter and doesn’t include that recipe. Thank goodness for the internet. I was able to find a starter recipe on All Recipes.
Come along the Friendship Cake Journey with Me.
Will you be the Giftee of a Friendship Cake Starter?
If you’d like to follow along, I’ll record my journey in this Chat thread. At the end of the journey, I’ll post the full recipe with modifications needed - if any. And since I’ll have some starter to gift, I’d like to gift it to one of our wonderful readers. To be eligible, comment in the chat or in the comments below. The giftee will be chosen at random once the starter is ready.
More Recipe Box Roulette Articles
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How apt a definition for starter—“a culinary chain-letter style of baking” !
Fascinating. I've never heard of Friendship Cake.