Hello bakers.

I've been making my own bread now for about half a year. The italian bread over in the Favorite Recipes is probably the most difficult I've done. I have some other main stay recipes that I use for white/wheat loaves but what I really want to make is sourdough.

 So after checking my calendar and making sure I'm not traveling anywhere I started my starter.

The starter I'm using is a Amish friendship starter. May or may not be the best but I had all the ingredients at the house.

I began this yesterday and the recipe calls for me to mix 2c AP flour, 2c h20, 2.25tps yeast. and let it sit for 5 days uncovered. After reading many threads on the this forum I assume that is to capture more wild yeast.

This is my question, since it's flour and water mixed it has created a hard shell over the top. 

Does this shell get removed?  Do I smash it into the mixture on day 5 when I add more ingredients? 

After a 10-year hiatus, I have been given another batch of Amish Friendship starter. I do enjoy the sweet breakfast-and-dessert style of the generic recipe that usually travels along with the starter, but I'm hoping to find an alternative to the box of pudding mix that it calls for. I'm curious about why it's even there. Eggs are already present, and I could certainly add in some vanilla extract. What is the purpose of pudding mix, can it simply leave it out, or is there a (healthier and less industrially processed) alternative I can substitute?

Thanks in advance!