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| Herman with his little friend Flat Stanley |
A couple of weeks ago my friend Judith sidled up to me at work with an odd look about her, as if she was about to say something quite covert which should have required a special handshake and a wink. She asked if I had ever heard if Herman the German Friendship Cake. I replied, 'yes, I have...' A rush of excitement followed. Jude had Herman. This was fantastic news.
The next day she appeared with a little tub of a frothy looking substance which smelled a bit like proving bread. It was alive.. ALIVE! He came with a list of instructions, which included how he liked to be treated and when to feed him. He was my new, yet strangely edible pet...
Herman the German Friendship Cake is rumoured to have started in the Amish community in America, and was a way of sharing food amongst those who needed it. Adding basic ingredients meant something simple could come blossom into something sweet and tasty. It's very similar to a sourdough starter, and has become like a modern cake chain letter. Each portion of Herman mix then blooms into four. You keep one and pass three on to your friends with a set of instructions.
It goes a little something like this...
Day 1: Take Herman home and decant him into a big bowl. Leave him on the worktop (not the fridge - it's chilly in there) covered with a tea towel.
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| Herman bubbling away |
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| Herman asleep... |
Day 4: Feed him with 200ml milk, 200g caster sugar and 250g self raising flour. Stir well.
Days 5-8: Stir well.
Day 9: Feed him with 200ml milk, 200g caster sugar and 250g self raising flour. Stir well and split into four equal portions. Keep one and give the other three away to friends with instructions.
Day 10: Feed him with 150g self raising flour, 3 beaten eggs, 150g caster sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 100g chopped apple, 100g sultanas and 100ml sunflower oil. You can substitute the combined 200g of fruit with your own favourite fillings! Spread him into a greased and lined tin. I used a 7 inch round tin which took an hour and a half on gas 4/180 C.
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| Finished Herman! |
After receiving Herman from Judith (who received him from her daughter) I passed my Herman onto Emma, Sarah and Tom. And so it continues...
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| Emma's Herman - this contained apple, apricots and pecans |
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| Sarah's Herman - this one contains mixed, dried fruit |
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| Tom's Herman - this one contained apple |
Hello! Here is my Herman experience! http://goodgobble.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/herman-friendship-cake.html
ReplyDeleteTasted lovely! Just had a butcher's at yours too! x
Deletei have been passed this by my partners Mum!! i am only on day 2 though!! x
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely cake! I can recommend using a mix of wet and dry fruit x
DeleteLooks delish, although I'm not sure I could eat something with a real name.
ReplyDeleteBeing the food hygiene freak that I am...does Hermy not start smelling with the milk element?
He doesn't have a face. I don't eat anything with a face!
DeleteIt doesn't smell bad! It just smells like proving bread!
I'm so jealous. My mum got given one and left it for a few days before throwing it away. THEN she told me about it, I could have gone nuts. She didn't have a clue.
ReplyDeleteDevastated. Emma gave her 3 out and one got eaten. By a cat. It's owner was suitably fuming!
DeleteI have a Herman sitting on my worktop :-) I'm on day six. Can't wait to taste the result!
ReplyDeleteEek! It's a lovely cake!
DeleteI love my herman! He's been a fixture for years and is so adaptable. I often make the traditional apple, cinnamon and raisin but have made up lots of variations, pears and cardamom, blueberries and vanilla to name a couple.
ReplyDeleteThe only drawback is eventually, all your friends have a Herman or the first person you gave Herman to has beaten you to your next intended victims, sorry recipients! The way round this is only to add half the amount on the first two feeds. Then, when you bake you have one to cook and one to feed for the next time.
I have also found that it's eaisier to keep track if you bake once a week so I feed every Tuesday and Saturday and bake every Sunday.
CALLING ALL HERMAN FAMILY PORTRAITS
ReplyDeleteHi, my name’s Hannah, I am a previous parent to Herman and have made it my mission to document his journey from here. Currently a BA Hons Book Arts and Design student at London College of Communication I am taking this journey on as my final project and hope to collate a family photo album of Herman in all the new families in all the new homes he finds himself in.
Once you have taken him in as your own and raised him until the end I would be so grateful for a family portrait to add to the collection. Just send a photo of yourselves with Herman in whichever baked form he takes with you to my email: hannahmfincham@gmail.com.
I will let you know when it is done so you can keep an eye out for your family portrait!
Thank you and good luck with your temporary parenthood.
x
This may sound a silly question but my friends told me she's giving me a part of her mix tomorrow and wanting to be clued up I thought I'd look online for info- my question is do I add any more yeast to it or does it go on from the initial yeast it was started with? I just figure that if it gets split over and over surely the yeast content will become too low?
ReplyDeleteCheers :-)
No more yeast is needed! It picks up natural yeasts from the air and flour. Because it's constantly being topped up and left to prove it carries on growing. It even smells a bit yeasty!
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