Amish Friendship Cake

Look at those beautiful eggs! This is the 2nd out of 3 Amish Friendship Cakes I am baking.

You make it with fermented fruit. YUM!

Here's what you do to make the starter. It takes 30 days to make just the starter, then an additional 30 days to make the cake. Once you get a starter, you can make 3 cakes at once every 30 days. They freeze well.

To initially make your starter, you will mix 1 cup pineapple chunks (drained) with 1 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons brandy. Pour into glass gallon jar. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Cut a small hole in the foil and insert a wooden spoon through the hole. Stir daily, leaving the wooden spoon in the jar. DO NOT REMOVE FOIL OR SPOON. On day 15 Add: 8 oz Maraschino cherries with juice, 1 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons brandy. Let stand for 2 weeks, stirring daily. Day 30: Strain fruit from the juice using plastic strainer.  The resulting "juice" is the starter for your Amish Friendship Cake.

After you get your starter, this is what you do...
Remember: Do not refrigerate. Do not put lid on tightly. Only use gallon glass jar. Only use wooden spoon for stirring. Stir daily and add these ingredients on the corresponding days. It will all be worth it. :)

Day 1 mix
1 1/2 cups starter
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 29 ounce can sliced peaches with juice

Days 2-9 stir daily with wooden spoon

Day 10 Add
2 10 ounce jars of Maraschino cherries with juice
Optional: add only 1 jar of cherries and add 1 large can of fruit cocktail with juice

Days 21-29 stir daily with wooden spoon

Day 30
Drain juice from fruit. Divide fruit into 3 portions to make 3 cakes.
Divide juice into 5 portions of 1 1/2 cups each. Place juice in glass jars. Use within 5 days. This will be used to make a new starter. You can give these away to your friends. Don't forget to copy the recipe. :)

Cake Recipe:
1 box Duncan Hines Butter Flavor Cake Mix
2/3 Cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix
1/3 of fruit mixture
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut
Optional: 1 cup Craisins or other yummy ingredients you want to experiment with.

Mix all ingredients with wooden spoon until moistened. Do not use mixer. Bake in a greased and sugared Bundt or fluted pan at 325 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until top is brown and cake tester comes out clean. I just have to watch my cakes. The more juice stuck to the fruit, the longer the bake time. Just keep an eye on it.  It will need to be pretty brown.

Cool cakes on wire racks. Serve with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

Happy Baking!