Just tried this and it’s lush, cakey for brekkie 😀
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 1

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.

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.

How much sugar? 😯

i made banana bread last night after a few beers as we had a load of over ripe bananas left over

just had it for brekky 🙂

Had to read twice thought it was a Spam cake, could just be a conspiracy to poison STW or worse make us all fat(ter)

How much sugar

It’s divided by four…but loooaaads…. 😳

I don’t really understand this.

My wife did this a few years ago – a lot of faffing for a cake that’s alright, but nothing special. IMO of course!

I don’t really understand this.

Then google!

It appears to be a German friendship cake, the hungry bit is due to it being a Sourdough/natural yeast type thing, Feed it and it grows. I guess you can keep growing and dividing the thing like one of those bad sci fi villains that no matter how much you cut it up it keeps going

It stinks your house out while it grows

We did one of those. Gorgeous and if you do the sharing thing it lasts forever.

If I stop bubbling, I am dead.

I’ve never been able to explain this, it’s just how I’m made.

hen the time is right the growing mixture is separated into four portions; one to bake with and three to share – and so the cycle goes on.

It’s the cake equivalent of one of those annoying chain letters.

My sister gave me a portion of this a few weeks ago. Even a quarter portion makes a LOT of cake – I took it into work where it went down very well.

How much sugar?

The yeast eats the sugar.

It’s great add as much fruit as you like any variety ,apples are great in it too.
My wife brought some home from work, feeds hungrey theiving teenagers and they don’t even realise it might be good for them loads of fruit n uts ,seeds,just gets better.

My sister gave me a portion of this a few weeks ago.

did you upload pics of said cake (they haven’t shown up on my computer if you have 😕 it sounds like witchcraft to me 😯

did you upload pics of said cake

😳

😆

Is Herman your real name khani?

If so, Hi Herman, nice to meet you matey. 🙂

Only on a Sunday…oh! Hang on. No .that’s Susan… 😳

I think we’ve met 😳

When I was Clara…

So..that was you, Shave your legs next time…..

Tried the Herman dough/cake and didn’t like it , it had a strange taste (IMO). Everything else my wife makes is better!

“Feed me Seymour, feed me NOW,”