Friendship Cake: The Starter

Yesterday I shared the Amish Friendship Bread recipe with you, and if you managed to make it through the entire post, "Thank You" for sticking by me.  During my 10-day wait for the Amish Friendship Bread Starter, I did a bit of digging around and came across another interesting entity: the Thirty Day Friendship Cake.  The name alone was enough to pique  my interest, not to mention how much less I was grossed out by the ingredients/process compared to the Amish Friendship Bread.  The flour-sugar-milk mixture I so disdainfully squished every day is replaced with a much tastier looking blend of brandy, sugar, and canned fruits.  Brandied fruit?!?!  Yes, please.

The starter for the cake is a sugary fruit-infused brandy, making the resulting cake (which contains pineapple, peaches, cherries, raisins, nuts, and coconut) a "Fruitcake in Disguise."  And I do love me some fruitcake!  The only downside of this recipe is the wait time:  30 days if you have access to a starter, or 50 days if you're starting from scratch.  The Friendship Fruit Starter takes 21 days to make, and Day 21 of the starter will become Day 1 of the Thirty Day Friendship Cake.  Make sense?  I won't overwhelm you with both recipes today, so only the Friendship Fruit Starter will be posted below.  Will you journey with me? 

Let's begin:

Friendship Fruit Starter 
Original Recipe Yield: 2 cups starter, 6 cups brandied fruit
From Allrecipes.com

15 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained (I could only find 20 oz. cans, so I *might* have eaten the extras)
15 oz. can aprioct halves, drained
15 oz. can sliced peaches, drained
10 oz. jar maraschino cherries, drained
1¼ cups brandy
1¼ cups white sugar

In a large glass jar (I used a 1-gallon jar, but a ½ gallon should do), combine drained pineapple chunks, drained apricot halves, drained sliced peaches, drained maraschino cherries, brandy, and sugar.  Stir gently with a wooden spoon.  Cover loosely (set lid on top but do not screw it down) and let stand at room temperature for 3 weeks, stirring at least twice a week.  Drain and reserve the liquid- This liquid is your starter for the Thirty Day Friendship Cake.  Fruit may be kept in the refrigerator for another use; you will be using new fruits to make the Thirty Day Friendship Cake.

So there you have it friends.  Seems easy enough, right?  I'll keep you posted on the progress of the starter...probably on Day 10 and Day 21.  Are you as excited as I am???