Herman

19 comments

A few days ago, a friend asked me if I’d like a portion of the friendship cake batter she had on the go. It wasn’t a long conversation. We were passing each other as we crossed to different sides of the road. I’ve heard about these cakes, but I’ve never been offered one before.

Before anyone feels sorry for me having no friends, just remember I live in the country and friendship cakes are a rarity in the UK. Of course,  I could be wrong and all my friends have been holding out on me or just not cake bakers.

Later that day, I was passed a tub of batter, instructions and told to make sure Herman didn’t die. HERMAN! It had a name. No-one told me that. Somehow having a name makes the responsibility of keeping this cake batter alive that little whole lot bigger. This is akin to looking after the class hamster. (Not something our school does, but I have heard a recent horror story from a friend who discovered that said rodent was dead on arrival and had been for a while, when it was her turn to take it home.)

The ten day instructions, for Herman, tell me how to feed it and to keep it at room temperature to keep the yeast alive.

Today was the first day I needed to feed him. As house guests go, he is pretty easy. There are two bits of this whole procedure that worry me. First of all, in the instructions it tells me to leave a wooden spoon in the mix, to facilitate the stirring. Not sure I like the idea of leaving the spoon there for the duration.

Secondly, I have to leave the bowl at room temperature. This batter has milk in it. Some of the milk traces have been in this batter for weeks, months, years. Does the yeast eat it so fast that the milk has no time to go sour? Maybe I’m over thinking it, but I swear Herman was looking a tad darker this morning.

Now, I’m hoping that there are people reading this that have so much more experience of friendship cakes than me. I’m hoping at least one of you have made an apple friendship cake and can personally recommend a recipe. I’d like Herman to have a worthy finale and I also have a growing mountain of windfall apples. So, has anyone made an apple friendship cake and they’d like to share the recipe? Pretty please!

19 comments

  1. I’ve made friendship cakes many times, and given the batter as well…but always with a recipe. I have never recommended leaving in the spoon. I just don’t see the value there, but leaving the sourdough (which is what this is afterall) at room temperature is exactly right. You need not worry about the milk because of the beneficial cultures at work in the batter. They are going to fight off any bad bacteria and the milk will be just fine. Especially if you have raw milk, but either way. Yes, the milk does sour but, as part of the sourdough.

    If I can dig out my Amish friendship cake recipe I will share again. It has apples and nuts in it. Meanwhile, best to leave “Herman” covered with a fine cloth, maybe even rubberbanded to keep out flies and such but let in air. He will prefer to be away from drafts and in a warmish room-temperature spot.

    And for way more information about sourdoughs and the multitude uses and recipes, check out http://www.gnowfglins.com They have an amazing e-course and book.

    Enjoy!

    1. Oh, thank you Marie. You have put my mind at rest about the milk. I’m not sure why I didn’t make the connection between this yeasty mix and a sourdough one. We had to leave Herman overnight and I was a bit concerned that the house would smell bad when we returned, but it had expanded a bit and smelt wonderful. Must still be alive. Thanks for the links. I’ll go and find out more.

  3. Herman …lol
    I’ve never heard of a friendship cake…does this mean I better start worrying ??? perhaps no one trusts me to keep it going! or even worse….gulp
    I did keep a Ginger beer plant alive in my school locker …but that was erm……………a little while ago
    Good luck and have fun!

    1. I would send you a portion of mine, but I suspect he would die en route!

      I’m looking forward to trying it out as a cake, although we all know, that naming something you are going to eat, is a bad idea. I’m thinking chickens! That is if I keep Herman alive and not let him go green (the fate of his sadly demised Grandfather)! Ginger beer plant is also on my list to try. I’m now wondering whether I need a school locker for successful ginger beer!

  4. Amish friendship cake is common where I live. And the deals the same wooden spoon and all. I have no idea why. 🙄 I can attest to the fact that the cake is yummy. We like it plain with a brown sugar topping.

    1. Oh, plain with sugar sounds good. I’m wondering how clean the wooden spoon is meant to be. Does it add an extra ingredient? (fingers in ears) I’m not thinking about it.

  5. I too have never heard of a friendship cake, although it sounds a pretty interesting concept…………just wondering what happens to you if Herman dies……eekkkk!……..stir carefully my friend. x

    1. I’ll take good care. He is still doing well. I agree. The concept of sharing a friendship cake is exceedingly good. I’ve been warned that Herman will get very big, so sharing does make sense. Although my friend haven’t seen the quantities that I sometimes bake with. One for us, one for the freezer and one to give…. we’ll see.

  6. Good for you. Herman seems such a nice name you’d hate to do anything unkind to him (like pour him down the garbage disposal, not nice). Seems like you are getting all kinds of good advice up there so I’ll leave it at that. Yes, I have made them before but it’s been awhile. Suffice it to say that none of us died. None of my friends died… Have fun!!

    Blessings, Debbie

    1. Yes, I guess a name does make it all that more personal. I’m really looking forward to trying the finished product. I love trying something different and this falls into the scientific experiment area, as far as I’m concerned. 😀 Glad to hear that you are all flourishing!

    1. I’ve thought about starting one before now.

      Herman is doing surprisingly well and smells lovely. Wish I could get a portion up to you, but not really suitable through the post!

  8. I love the fact it came with a name! haha!

    My Mom used to make Amish friendship cakes. Hmm. It’s a great idea. I wonder how well it ships.

  9. I leave the spoon in because the mixture gets quite thick and clingy, so taking the spoon away every time you stir wastes a bit of Herman!

    Are you still making them? We like them with banana, coffee and walnut, also a ginger version is good. You can add all kinds of things to the basic ingredients, whatever you fancy.

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