German Friendship Cake?

[Allie]

MIL gave me one to take home on 3/12...so my 10 days are up & I should have cooked whatever it is & passed on 3 portions...except it is still in the boot of the car...I think...so probably dead.

Either that or it is hammering at the lock - mine has tried to climb out of the bowl a few times...

Maybe he's opening the MIL's xmas presents for us?! (they're still hiding in there until we find time to open them & check they aren't hideously annoying things or clothes that don't fit that the kids will want to wear immediately...)

& no Morlyte she didn't ask if I wanted one...& didn't even ask if it'd be okay when I said 'thanks! Now I just need to find some spare time to look after it!'.

[Cait]

So how do you start Herman off then? I'd like to start one, but haven't been given Herman, so what do I create him from?

I remember us having this when I was a kid and it was lovely, so this thread sent me searching and I've found this link - if you scroll down far enough you'll come to the starter mix instructions

[salj1980]

We've got one on the go, currently on 3rd incarnation. Have attached our instructions, which worked well. I made it in a big shallow spring-ring cake tin.

Herman is the starter culture for a sourdough cake. He needs to live on the worktop and not in the fridge, if he stops bubbling he has died.

Day 1 Herman is given to you. Pour him into a large non-metallic bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Day 2 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoon
Day 3 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoon
Day 4 Herman is hungry; give him – 200ml milk, 150g plain flour, 225g sugar
Day 5 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoon
Day 6 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoon
Day 7 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoon
Day 8 Stir Herman 2 or 3 times with a wooden spoon
Day 9 Herman is hungry again. Give him – 200ml milk, 150g plain flour, 225g sugar. Share him into 4 equal portions and give two little Hermans away with a copy of these instructions. Keep one portion to grow again and one to bake.
Day 10 Herman is absolutely starving. Give him 8oz/225g sugar, 9oz/250g plain flour, 2 beaten eggs, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp baking powder, 180ml/5fl oz sunflower oil, 2 small apples cut into small chunks, a handful of dried fruit. If required, add a bit of extra milk until you have a mixture with a soft dropping consistency.

Now Herman likes to go to a hot resort, the oven will do. Pre heat the oven to 180oC/Gas mark 4. Mix everything together and pour him into a cake tin (10″ x 12″ baking tray). Leave him in the oven for about 45-50 mins. Herman is now ready to eat.

We have just been given a Herman, only our instructions are written in cups as opposed to 'proper' measurements :wink Only problem is I don't know if that's American cups or just mugfulls (I have a couple of recipes which use mugfulls of ingredients).

Can't get hold of the person who gave it to us (she works part time with OH and won't be working again for a while) but its now day 4 and I need to feed Herman, do you reckon it'd be ok to use messtins' measurements as above?

[blossom]

Yes, from my experience he's pretty hard to stuff up!

[salj1980]

Thanks Blossom!

[OnlyAGinger]

we made the straightforward vanilla pudding/cinnamon flavored bread before. but there are quite a few recipes online if you 'google' "amish friendship bread recipe variations"

they all look yummmmmmmeeeeeee!!!!!

[Louisianablue2000]

Well just to revive this I got one two weeks ago at work and am now cooking it and after 45 minutes it's still wet in the middle... DH and the girls are off to our friends' house while I wait for Herman to get ready. Smells gorgeous and I remember having one when I was a kid and loving it so really looking forward to it. I was given the recipe in cups and OMG what a blooming faff. Flour and sugar all over the worktop, what is wrong with using a set of scales? So I've copied out the metric version to hand out with the starter mix, thanks!

[Woodsies]

My Mum just came round with some Herman!!!

She also gave me 3 other portions which I have to find unsuspecting volunteers for.....

[TrogLINdyte]

My Herman is on day 8 (or 9, I forgot to write the day of the week next to the number this time), I'm looking forward to it already and Mr. TGD has decided we should keep one of the 3 portions we'd give away so we always have one on the go.

[OnlyAGinger]

Love the fact that you call the cake 'Herman' - will have to use that the next time we make it...so much more fun than 'Amish Friendship Bread'...

[Woodsies]

Hannah's really got into this friendship cake and is responsible for reminding me when he needs stirring and feeding

[TravellingMum]

I have a Herman now! On day 5 at the moment. I know it says to put apples in when you cook it, but I am wondering about putting rhubarb instead. What do you think? Just thought it might be a bit different - plus we have rhubarb outside!!!

[biccytoria]

Absolutely! I might leave the cinnamon out or decrease the amount a lot, and maybe put some vanilla in. It's very flexible, I've known people to use it to make carrot cake, and add all manner of different things, coconut, make it wholemeal, one of my friends even made a sourdough loaf from it

[Cait]

Oops. I got a Herman last week and I've killed him. I'd better make one from scratch to cover up my crime.

[Kate]

Oh, I'm so glad this thread has been bumped. Makes me feel even more guilty about the herman that's sitting in a box on the kitchen table! Problem is, I'm not a natural nuturer, so would almost certainly kill him *looks anxiously at the other tiny helpless thing that's expecting me to nuture it right now*