I really don’t want to sound negative about AFB. It’s delicious and we LOVE it! What I didn’t love, initially, was the terrible feeling of obligation and the guilt when I neglected the starter. Once I started learning about starters (both AFB and sourdough) I realized that there’s a whole mythic quality to the AFB thing that just doesn’t need to be there. So many rules to be broken…..Once I realized that *I* was in charge, not the starter, I really started liking it a lot more! It’s definitely one of our favorite sweet treats.

Barb

Yes, you can freeze the starter.

I’ve not tried soy or rice milk and alternative flours, but it would definitely be worth the experiment. You can start with a cup of alternative flour, a cup of soy or rice milk, a cup of sugar and a teaspoon of yeast. The warmer your kitchen is, the less yeast you need. If your kitchen is really cool or if it’s winter, you would use a little more than a teaspoon. Count the day that you mix those ingredients up as day one. Then carry on as the recipe says. Obviously, you’ll need to work with the pudding mix in regards to the gluten-free/casein-free thing. My blog has a number of suggestions on how to adjust the recipe to eliminate the pudding.

That’s the easiest way to do it. If I were doing this, I’d probably start out with half the amts. on those ingredients and just put the starter thru two cycles before I started baking with it. That yeasty fermented flavor is part of what AFB tastes like so I’d want to make sure I had the starter really fermenting before I used it.

NOTE: this is the only time you need to add yeast. After the very first day, the starter will be manufacturing its own yeast.

Tiffany, I’d be very interested in hearing how this experiment works out for you.

Barb Kelley