Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Thirty Day Fermented Fruit Friendship Cake


Thirty Day Fermented Fruit Friendship Cake








The Recipes I found here, and there, with the familiar recipe I used in the 80's, and 90's,  was not available where I looked, but here it is, all cleaned up, and ready for you, and I hope you are as excited to know as I was, that I/You, can start this ferment from scratch, if it's been a long time, and no one is sharing one of these gems of recipes. The photo is a free one, because at the time of this writing, I am in the middle of my, well, 3/4 of the way through, actually, (SQuuueeeeee) the making of my first, from scratch batch, and it is looking, AweSome, and I can't wait til my last 10 days are behind me, and it's time to bake these yummy loaves, and hopefully I can find someone who wants some starter, to get started putting away some sweetcake, for the summer days ahead, when hard work can often find you hungry, and wanting some yummy sweetness for an afternoon snack, or a quick breakfast.

                              Fermented Fruit FRIENDSHIP CAKE

To begin a batch from Scratch, without a starter, you will need:
1 20oz. Can of chopped, or cubed Peaches
2 ½ cups Sugar
optional 1 pkg dry yeast.
       I made mine, without the yeast and it turned out perfectly, in the high desert, of Nevada. If you are in humid areas and you want to establish a healthy bacteria quickly, you may want to use the yeast packet. I would most likely try it without, myself. Fermenting is simply done, on my counter, out of direct sunlight, fairly often. Add these to a one gallon glass container, with either a non screw rubber closure, or you can also use a piece of cotton material like a hanky, or cheese cloth,fastened to keep out bugs, like fruitflys, with a rubber band, so the gas created by the fermenting process can escape, and after a thorough stir, to dissolve as much of the sugar as will dissolve, leave on the counter or in a cool ish dark place of your choosing.
       If you have a starter, given by a Friend, then add your Peaches and Sugar, as listed above, on arriving home with your jar of starter juice. The wild bacteria, from the air, of the places it's been, will flavor it a bit differently, just like a sourdough starter will, and this makes for a bit of flavor excitement on tasting yours for the first time. If you need to wait for a bit, before starting your batch, you can freeze it. When you are ready, just bring to room temperature, and begin with your Peaches and sugar. If needed, give it 2 to 3 days extra in your first fermenting segment, to re-enliven, but it should be fine, once fed with the sugar and fruit.

Stir your Peaches and Sugar, Every Day, for 10 Days.

Day 10-
 add 1- 20oz. can of Crushed Pineapple
2 ½ cups of Sugar

Stir Every Day, for 10 more Days

Day 20-
 add 1-30oz can, OR, 2-15oz cans of Fruit Cocktail
1-10oz. Jar of Maraschino cherries, juice included

Stir Every Day, for 10 more Days

Day 30- Strain/Separate your Fermented Fruit, from it's juice, and add 1 ½ cups each, of your juice, to 2 pint jars, and put aside for gifting, and do the same for your own Gallon Jug, and begin your process again, with your Peaches and Sugar.

         To make your Friendship Cake, you make 2 separate batches of cake, adding half of your fruit to each batch, and pour in to 2- 9” buttered, and floured cake pans, or like me, I spray, and flour individual mini loaf pans, that come in a 10 pack, using one pack per batch, and freeze them, individually, so I can have them on hand as needed.

For Each cake batch:
preheat your oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit/165C
Ingredients:
1 box cake mix, I have used Chocolate, and Vanilla, and make one batch each
1 box instant pudding
2/3 cup (154g) vegetable oil
4 eggs
Stir, add ½ of reserved fruit, stir, then add optional ingredients as desired:
1 cup (100+g) raisins
1 cup (160g) chopped nuts
1 cup (60g) shredded coconut
Bake cake forms for 55-60 minutes, or individual loafs for 25-30 minutes, checking with a toothpick inserted in the center, that comes out clean, for doneness.



Enjoy, just as I know I will! <3 p="">