Herman Cake (or Friendship Cake)
Herman Cake (photos from cherishedbyme.com)
Have you heard about the Herman Cake? or maybe the Friendship Cake? it's a popular cake which you 'feed' every day or so, it's mainly full of yeast. The Herman cake is a cake which has been round a while and is in fact German.
'Herman the German friendship cake is a sourdough cake recipe which is several decades old. Obviously the mix isn't decades old but you get the idea! It passes through circles of friends and family similar to a chain letter.
The origin may have been from the Amish people, who used something similar - sourdough bread that was passed around to the sick and needy. If you know where this idea originally came from please feel free to comment below.' Hub Pages
If you are greeted by a friend with a jar of some pale looking liquid.. beware! that may will be your Herman cake in the making! You see after going through the strict instructions from your fellow friend you split the ingredients into 5 lots of mixture you place into jars and pass 4 onto your friends with instructions, so they can continue the chain. With your very own little part of Herman you add a few extra bits to him and put it in the oven to cook. The instructions you will be given from a friend will be like the ones below :)
Day 1 Today Herman is given to you. Congratulations you have a friend. Pour him into a bowl as he will continue to grow.
Day 2 Stir Herman 2-3 times a day with a wooden spoon
Day 3 Stir Herman, talk to him!
Day 4 Herman is hungry. Feed him 200ml milk, 200g caster sugar and 250g sifted self-raising flour
Day 8 Stir Herman, don’t forget to talk to him
Day 9 Feed Herman as for day 4. Then split into 5 little Hermans and give 4 away with these instructions
Day 10 Feed your remaining Herman with 150g Self raising flour, 3 beaten eggs, 150g caster sugar, 2 tbsp cinnamon powder, 100g chopped nuts or dried fruit, 2 finely chopped apples, 100ml of oil.
Cook Herman in a lined 7″ cake tin for about an hour at 180ºC . (From cherishedbyme.com)
'In these times of almost impenetrable packaging and obsessive food hygiene there's added pleasure to be had from eating something that has been through many hands and possibly several generations, and survived to continue the tale.' Guardian
Some people when handed their very own jar of yeast, or their very own 'Herman' take on the responibility with willingness and enthusiasm, others wonder why you'd prolong a baking process for 10days when a sponge can be made and baked in minutes. I've got say though, I've tried a slice before off a friend and it was lovely! What do you think? what is your view? If you have had your own 'Herman' or know someone who has let me know your experiences below in the comments box :)
To start your own chain of Herman Cakes:
Sprinkle 1 tbsp of sugar over the warm water
Sprinkle the yeast over this and leave in a warm place for about 10 minutes to double in size
Mix the milk, sugar, flour and yeast mixture in a large bowl, stir using a wooden spoon
Place in a warm place and stir every day.
Fruit Flapjacks (recipe for 29th Feb)
Just a quick mention, my recipe for this week (w/c 27th) are my Fruit Flapjacks, utterly quick and delicious! :)
