Amish Friendship Bread--Part I

My friend, Jennifer, brought Amish friendship bread to work the other day.  Although I'd never heard of this cake-y concoction, I sliced myself a hefty piece and scarfed it down between conference calls.

Oh. Em. Gee.

I like to think of myself as a coffee cake connoisseur of sorts.  And this Amish Friendship Bread was the Best. Coffee Cake. Ever.  Every time I needed to pass Jennifer's desk, I had to look away from the blinding, sugary light emanating from the bread, plug my nose to avoid inhaling it's gloriousness, and RUN.  Even still, by the end of the day, I had eaten so much Friendship Bread, I had total gut rot.

But I still wanted more.

So, I took home one of the bags of bread "starter" that Jennifer had brought in.

"What in tarnation is starter?"  You're probably asking yourself.  Well, I'll let you in on the secret of Amish Friendship Bread.

Although it appears to be a regular, old quick bread, Amish Friendship Bread is nothing of the sort.  Wikipedia describes it as the chain letter of cooking because your bread begins with a flavor-enhancing yeast starter that you receive from a friend.  In order to keep the starter alive, you need to feed it.  Like a pet.  Or a small child.  Of which I have neither.  So the analogy makes sense to me.

After caring for the starter for 10 days, you make the best bread you'll ever taste, and you also have more starter...enough to share with friends!  Then your friends make the best bread they'll ever taste and continue to share.  And the cycle continues for infinity.

Have I piqued your interest in Amish Friendship Bread?  No?  Well, look at this sugary goodness:

If this doesn't get your socks going up and down, I don't know what will.  Come on back tomorrow for THE RECIPE.  I tracked it down from the Amish.  And by "Amish," I mean internet.