Super Moist Friendship Cake
Submitted by dominique
Super moist friendship cake starts with a 30-day brandied fruit starter, layering peaches, pineapple, and cherries, then bakes into a tender, fruit-and-nut loaf. The shareable holiday baking tradition.
YIELD
48 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
31 daysMore tradition than recipe, friendship cake is a month-long labor of love that ends in a moist, fruit-packed cake worth every day of the wait. It all begins with a brandied starter that you feed in stages: peaches and sugar on day one, pineapple ten days later, and maraschino cherries on day twenty, stirring daily as the fruit ferments and bubbles.
That slow ferment is the secret. Over thirty days the fruit takes on a deep, boozy, almost rum-soaked richness, and the syrup turns from amber to a rosy pink once the cherries go in.
On day thirty-one, you finally bake. The drained fruit gets folded into a batter shortcut of cake mix and instant vanilla pudding, which is what guarantees that famously tender, moist crumb. Then come the add-ins: raisins, pecans, walnuts, and coconut for chew and texture in every bite.
The name says it all. The recipe makes a generous batch plus extra starter and syrup, traditionally passed along to friends so they can begin a cake of their own.
Pro Tips
- Never cover the starter jar airtight; the fermentation needs to vent, so keep the lid loose.
- Stir the starter every single day, since skipping days can let it spoil instead of ferment.
- Mix the batter by hand and only until just combined, so the cake stays tender rather than tough.
- Bake low and slow, and tent with foil if the top browns before the center sets.
Variations
- Save the drained syrup and reserved fruit to start a new batch or gift to a friend.
- Swap in dried cranberries or chopped dates for some of the raisins.
- Use a spiced or rum-flavored cake mix to play up the boozy notes.
Ingredients
Directions
Pour starter into glass gallon jar. Add can of sliced peaches with the juice; cut each slice into 4 pieces.
Add 2½ cups sugar.
Stir.
Cover jar loosely and keep at room temperature. Stir every day for 10 days.
All the sugar may not dissolve for several days.
Don’t cover airtight.
Day 10.
Add can of pineapple tidbits with juice and 2½ cups sugar.
Stir.
Continue as before, stirring every day for 10 more days.
Your starter has changed color and your fruit will foam when stirred.
Day 20.
Add 3 6-oz jars of maraschino cherries, drained. Cut each cherry in half.
Add 2½ cups sugar. Stir. Continue stirring daily for 10 days.
These are the last ten days. The cherries will give the juice its pinkish color back.
Day 31.
You will now bake your cakes. Preheat oven to 300℉ (150℃).
Grease and flour your pans.
Drain fruit into a large bowl. Pour juice into 3 pint jars.
Into a large bowl put 1 box cake mix, 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix, 4 eggs, ⅔ cup oil and ½ the drained fruit.
Mix with a spoon only until well mixed.
Then stir in 1 cup each of raisins, walnuts, pecans and coconut.
Pour into prepared pans. Bake until straw inserted in center comes out clean.
Makes 2 tube pans or 12 one pound loaves or 4 loaves, 9 ½×5 ½×3-inch.
Bake one tube pan at a time for approximately 60 to 90 minutes.
this is a recipe I had years ago and lost and then a friend told me about this web site and that she had found the recipe for the cake, Thank you God for this site. I have starter just waiting in my freezer for this recipe.
What is in the original starter and how do you make it? I can't make the cake until I have the starter.
Hi, Patty. If you type in friendship starter in search bar, you will see Amish starter recipes, and you can use it to make this cake. Hope this helps. Happy baking :)