FabSwingers.com forum: Meet Herman The German Friendship Cake.

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

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.

Stir well

Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar and milk. 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.

Although some of the measures are in ‘cups’ (a baking measure used in the USA) you can find conversions here. Converted quantities are also listed on the instructions that you can find here.

The Finished Article

This is how my Herman turned out. Although I followed the instructions that state 45 minutes in the oven, I recommend adding another 15 – 20 minutes using tin foil to cover the cake. This will help ensure Herman is cooked well enough all the way through.

If you have baked cakes before you will no doubt know about sticking a knife into the middle of a cake. This is a good idea to make sure the cake is cooked in the middle. If the knife comes out with wet mix on it you need more baking time; the idea is that the knife will come out clean as the inside of the cake is cooked sufficiently. With the apple content of this Herman I think he will always be a little bit moist inside.

When it came to sharing Herman out to others I chose my neighbours who all have young children. Straight away they were so excited about Herman and loved the thought of having to care for him until he was ready to be baked. This is a great way of getting kids involved in the kitchen.

The Herman Starter Mix

If you have never been given a starter mix for a friendship cake, it is very easy to make. This way you can start your own Herman and get sharing right away. Here’s how:

Ingredients:

5oz plain flour

8oz castor sugar

1 packet of active dry yeast

Half a pint of warm milk

2 fl oz lukewarm water

What to do:

Dissolve the yeast in warm water for 10 minutes and stir.

Add the flour and sugar then mix thoroughly.

Slowly stir in the warm milk.

Cover the bowl in a clean cloth.

Leave in a cool dry place for 24 hours

Now proceed from day one of the 10 day cycle.

My girlfriend give me this to make x known her 10 years so i think its lovely ... she has been over today as home alone . lol xx

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I enjoyed the cake so much I named my new 20" double ender Herman . Lol

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

she presented me with a small bowl of goo. It was a bit odd to have been given a bowl of goo that had a name and strict instructions to follow for ten days. She must love me , lol

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"I enjoyed the cake so much I named my new 20" double ender Herman . Lol

"
god its not a two ender like i have xx for two times the fun , lol xxxx i called myn Big boy ,

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Blimey Jo, that takes me back .... used to make 'friendship' cakes with my kids!

They also loved what I called a 'bung-it' cake (boiled fruit cake) because we 'bunged' everything in the pot then 'bunged' the mix into the oven.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"Blimey Jo, that takes me back .... used to make 'friendship' cakes with my kids!

They also loved what I called a 'bung-it' cake (boiled fruit cake) because we 'bunged' everything in the pot then 'bunged' the mix into the oven.

"
well now i am giving this goo to all my friends ,

when i have my big roman party here thay are getting goo .. when thay go home xx

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By *aceytopWoman
over a year ago

from a town near you

reminded me too,i used to make this with the kids,happy days

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"reminded me too,i used to make this with the kids,happy days

"
well i think its lovely our kids giving friends this xx and me , lol i like weird things , lol goo

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By *icketysplitsWoman
over a year ago

Way over Yonder, that's where I'm bound

I am one of those that managed to kill Herman! Although, I told the person that gave me Herman it was the cats fault.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

A British couple adopted a young German boy who’d thus far never spoken a word.

Fearing the worst the boy was subjected to several exhaustive tests to establish the cause of his silent disposition, but they could not find anything medically wrong with the boy......

.......several years past without a single sound being uttered by the boy…….

.......however on his fifth birthday they served him with an apple strudel, and German child spoke-up !!!, saying: "This apple strudel is tepid." The shocked parents immediately asked the boy why he’d never spoke before,,,,,,,, and the boy replied "Up until now everything has been satisfactory."

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"A British couple adopted a young German boy who’d thus far never spoken a word.

Fearing the worst the boy was subjected to several exhaustive tests to establish the cause of his silent disposition, but they could not find anything medically wrong with the boy......

.......several years past without a single sound being uttered by the boy…….

"
I love apple strudel , lol xx see why i chat so much now xx

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By *erman73Man
over a year ago

tz tz tz

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By *icketysplitsWoman
over a year ago

Way over Yonder, that's where I'm bound

"tz tz tz

Did you bring cake?

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By *andtsurreyCouple
over a year ago

Torbay

Me and the kids loved having the Herman cake thing going here until K whinged that the house constantly smelt of yeast!!

That and a diet have banned Herman..we miss him

T xx

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I still have some Herman in the freezer but long ago lost the recipe for waking him up so thanks for this!!

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