I love to bake when I have a spare moment on my weekends and it happens that yesterday I received a little tuppaware pot with the mixture for Herman the German Friendship Cake! So for the next ten days I will be looking after Herman, feeding him and stirring him every now and again until Day Ten when you split him into four and hand three portions to friends to continue the chain. The fourth portion will be for me to feed up and bake. I have made one of these before and it is delicious so if anyone offers you a little bit of Herman why not give it a go - it doesn't take much effort and the results are yummy!
Once you have your little portion of Herman here are the instructions for the next ten days....
Hello, my name is Herman.
I am a sourdough cake. I’m supposed to sit on your worktop for 10 days without a lid on.
You CANNOT put me in the fridge or I will die. If I stop bubbling, I am dead.
Day
You get Herman and put him in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
You get Herman and put him in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
- Stir well
- Stir well
- Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar and milk. Stir well.
- Stir well
- Stir well
- Stir well
- Stir well
- Hungry again. Add the same as day 4 and stir well. Divide into 4 equal portions and give away to friends with a copy of these instructions. Keep the 4th one.
- Herman is very hungry. Stir well and add the following:
- 1 cup sugar
- half tsp (teaspoon) salt
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2/3 (two thirds) cup of cooking oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 cooking apples cut into chunks
- 1 cup raisins
- 2 heaped tsp cinnamon
- 2 heaped tsp baking powder
Mix everything together and put into a large greased baking tin. Sprinkle with a quarter of a cup of brown sugar and a quarter of a cup of melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes at 170-180C. When cold cut into finger pieces. Cake freezes well and is also delicious warm with cream or ice-cream.
