It seemed to me that my Granny, Virginia Phillips, was always sharing food with her friends and neighbors. She would say, “I just can’t make spee-ghetty (spaghetti) without taking a boiler full out to Katherine’s. She loves it better’n anything.” What an act of love and kindness! Just because Katherine loved her spee-ghetty, she always made a double batch. So much of the attitude of being neighborly is gone. Our society has changed, in part, due to the hurried and harried lives that we lead. Also, we are much more transient and sometimes never get to know our neighbors. While our quality of life is much improved over decades passed, there’s much room for improvement in the “being neighborly” category.
I was in my early twenties before I became aware of just how much food sharing Granny did. This made me wonder if she had a responsibility to feed her town. So I asked her why she took food to so many people. Her reply was, “The Lord wants us to be neighborly. And I’m a-gonna do it.” To her, it wasn’t so much a responsibility as a commitment. That’s a much higher calling in my mind. People expect you to fulfill a responsibility. A commitment you fulfill out of the goodness of your heart. That tiny little woman taught me a gracious plenty about goodness. For that, I am evermore grateful. Goodness still exists. I see it around everywhere. In honor of my grandmother and her commitment to being neighborly, I’m sharing a recipe for Friendship Cake. You make a starter for the cake and then share it with your neighbors. I hope some of you will participate. A whole lot of goodness can come out of it.
Y’all come see us.
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I’ve had the recipe for the Friendship Cake for over 30 years. It was given to me by a co-worker and I don’t know the origin of it. I had lost the recipe for the starter and was thrilled when I found it printed in The Tampa Tribune in 1990. I don’t have pictures to share with this post. It will be a few months before I make the starter again. You have to stay parked for one week to make the starter and 30 days to make the cake. Retirement has afforded us the ability to “flit around”. I would have to arrange a babysitter for my starter.
Tip: if you are going to do this, I suggest that you have all ingredients handy before you start. You don’t want to wake up on day 20 and realize you forgot to pick up your fruit cocktail and cherries. When it says “Add fruit cocktail and cherries on day 20” it means day 20, not day 21.
Friendship Starter Juice
4 oranges, sectioned and coarsely chopped
2 peaches, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped (1 cup)
2 pears, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped (1 cup)
1/2 cup cranberries or red grapes, halved and seeded
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. Amaretto, pear brandy or brandy
1 package active dry yeast
Combine all ingredients in bowl and stir in yeast. Cover loosely with clear plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Store in refrigerator for at least one week. Stir once a day. Strain off 2 cups (one pint) liquid for starter juice. Remaining fruit and juice can be served over ice cream or layered with pudding for parfait. Do not eat fermented fruit uncooked.
Friendship Cake
1 pint starter juice
16 oz. sliced peaches, cut in small pieces with juice
16 oz. chunk pineapple and juice
5 cups sugar, divided
10 oz. maraschino cherries, drained and sliced
Day 1
Pour one pint of starter into a gallon glass jar. Add peaches and juice. Stir everyday for 10 days. Cover jar with saucer and leave at room temperature. DO NOT COVER TIGHTLY.
Day 10
Add pineapple and juice plus 2 1/2 cups sugar. Stir for 10 more days. The color will change and the fruit will foam as you stir it.
Day 20
Add maraschino cherries, drained. Add 2 1/2 cups sugar. Stir everyday for the final 10 days. The cherries will give back the pink color.
Day 31
You are ready to share your starter and bake a cake your starter. Drain the fruit, pour into three pint jars. Keep one and share two. Cake must be started three days after receiving the starter. If you have a friend or neighbor with whom you want to share the cakes but don’t feel they will want to follow through with the 30 day process for making the cakes themselves, then bake the cakes for them and deliver. But, that means that you will have to start over with making more starter before you can start baking more cakes.
Ingredients for one cake:
1 box Duncan Hines Golden Cake mix
1 box vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
2/3 cup cooking oil
1 cup fruit, drained
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pecans
1 cup raisins
1 cup coconut
Mix first ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Bake in a 300 degree preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick comes out clean.
cayancy says
There was an Amish dessert bread going around my circle of friends a few years ago. It was so moist and delicious, and it was fun to always have something to bake and something to share. This recipe sounds especially good with all that fruit in it!
How do you sugggest cooking the left-over fruit and juice from the starter so that it’s safe to eat? Would you boil it first? (Just curious because that part sounded delicious too.)
Jackie Garvin says
Chris,
This is a fun recipe. I haven’t done in a quite sometime. As soon as I can light long enough, I’m getting my starter started. The fruit is similar to brandied fruit so I would cook it in the same fashion. Just add a little butter and roast it until it starts to caramelize a little. That would add a lot of flavor to it. It would be especially good over ice cream.
Janice Marra says
Jackie When I retired 6yrs ago I said to my husband I wanted to get to know my neighbors better. Two of our neighbors were widow’s and I would visit them sit and talk or just listen to them.We help them out in Hurricane season.They have become part of our lives and we love them. I can’t wait to share this with them. I would love to be your neighbor too.Janice
Jackie Garvin says
Janice,
You have such a sweet, sweet spirit. That’s what our family was all about. Helping people out was a way of life for them. You are carrying that on and you should feel so good about it. Janice, YOU are goodness!
Love,
Your cousin
Danny Taylor says
Yes Jackie, that what it was all about…they all shared and was always neighborly in any way possible. The Phillips were just that!
Thanks for sharing.
Jackie Garvin says
Danny,
Thanks for the comment. So glad you enjoyed the post.
MommyMatter says
I have been looking all over for this recipe, couldn’t remember what it was called, used to make all the time and then misplaced my recipe. Thanks so much, can’t wait to get started.
Jackie Garvin says
Mommymatter,
I’m so glad you found your way here. We love having you as a reader. Keep me posted on your Friendship Cake.
Mona Stout says
I think I told you before, Jackie, that our grannies must surely be enjoying each other’s company in heaven. I’ve imagined that one fine, sunny day (they’re all fine sunny days in heaven, of course) your granny Virginia tells my granny Clairebele about this friendship cake … to which I can just hear my granny say “oh, I’d have liked to have that recipe!”. I’ve got to make this now, you know. Just happen to have some neighbors who are very nice even though we don’t talk much. Yet. 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Mona,
I’m sure our Grannies are best friends in Heaven! As soon I can light long enough, I’m starting up a batch again. This really is a fun recipe to make and share.
SweetJeanette says
Wow, I’ve never had friendship bread with fruit. That sounds great!!! ok, I’m drooling here.
Jackie Garvin says
It is good. Rich, but good. You should try it. I am going to get a new batch started as soon as I can light long enough.
Barbara Bliis says
: ) my son made this Forever when he was about 10…..
Jackie Garvin says
Barbara,
I’m going to make it again as soon as I can light for 40 days. I’ve never photo-documented the whole process ste-by-step. I want to do that. Good for your son for doing this! Bravo!
Barbara Bliis says
Thanx!! I told him I him that I found the recipe again…he got all excited!! We used to laugh about Billys baking bust,on time after school he came home to make his bread(WE were tired of the bread by this time!!)…he was stressed about it and he dropped all the batter all over the place.. He is a good cook!
Jackie Garvin says
I hope Billy enjoys making the Friendship Cake again!
Barbara Bliss says
He asked me again for the recipe……. : )
Jackie Garvin says
How many cakes has he made now?
Barbara Bliss says
He has not made any yet…..he is type one diabetic…..So he is trying to feel better!!
Marie Nelson says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I got tired of dealing with keeping my fruit going and let it go. That was a good 30 years ago. I’ve been wanting to start it up again but didn’t know how without a starter. I even threw the cake recipe I had away not 2 weeks ago because it didn’t include instructions on how to make a starter. Again, thank you for sharing this recipe. This one isn’t exactly like the one I had but it’s close enough and I’m sure it will be wonderful.