Herman Cake

I made this with my son we gave it out to his friends on his birthday they all enjoyed it.

This is an Amish tradition. His name is Hermann and he is made for friendship. You can make the starter batch then keep him alive until he is ready to share, making a delicious cake with your part of him.

What to do: 1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water for 10 minutes and stir. 2. Add the flour and sugar then mix thoroughly. 3. Slowly stir in the warm milk. 4. Cover the bowl in a clean cloth. 5. Leave in a cool dry place for 24 hours 6. Now proceed from day one of the 10 day cycle.

Herman is a sourdough cake. He is supposed to sit on your worktop for 10 days without a lid on. You CANNOT put him in the fridge or he will die. If Herman stops bubbling, He is dead.

Day1: Put him in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.

Day 2: Stir well

Day 3: Stir well

Day 4: Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar and milk. Stir well.

Day 5: Stir well

Day 6: Stir well

Day 7: Stir well

Day 8: Stir well

Day 9: 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 fourth portion.

Day 10: Now you are ready to make the cake. Stir well and add 150g self raising flour,3 beaten eggs,150g caster sugar,2 teaspoons of cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons of vannila essence,50ml of sunflower oil and 50g of chocolate chips. 

Mix everything together and put into a large greased baking tin. Bake for 45 minutes at 170 to 180C. You may need to cover in tin foil and bake for a further 20 minutes to make sure your Herman is done in the middle.

Once you have made this recipie why not start again and experiment with other flavours.