Have you ever heard of a Herman friendship Cake before? No? I hadn’t either but a couple of weeks ago a friend gave me a tub of doughy mixture that I was to talk to, stir and nuture for ten days before passing on to four friends and cooking the remains. So instead of chain letter, think chain cake. Sharing is caring and what a lovely gift to give away. Do you want to know more? Then read on…
A Herman friendship cake is something that money cannot buy, but you can give it away. Heman is alive . He grows slowly because of the yeast process. It also takes ten days before you can eat him. A Herman friendship cake shouldn’t be put in the fridge and also requires a lid or to be covered by a tea towel. He grows at room temperature.
I did a little googling and came up with the starter recipe for Herman so if you fancy starting your own little chain then you can.
A Herman Friendship Cake Starter Recipe
Rating
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
- 460g flour
- 500ml milk
- 230g sugar
- 90ml warm water
- 2 tbsp active dry yeast
- Sprinkle 1tbsp of sugar over the warm water
- Sprinkle the yeast over the sugar and water and leave in a warm place for about 10 minutes to double in size.
- Mix the milk, remaining sugar, flour and the yeast mixture in a large bowl, stir using a wooden spoon.
- Cover loosely.
- Place in a warm place and stir every day.
- Then:
- Day 1 Today Herman is given to you. Congratulations you have a friend. Pour him into a bowl as he will continue to grow.
- Day 2 Stir Herman 2-3 times a day with a wooden spoon
- Day 3 Stir Herman, talk to him!
- Day 4 Herman is hungry. Feed him 200mls milk, 200g caster sugar and 250g sifted self-raising flour
- Day 5 Stir Herman
- Day 6 Stir Herman
- Day 7 Stir Herman
- Day 8 Stir Herman, don’t forget to talk to him
- Day 9 Feed Herman as for day 4. Then split into 5 little Hermans and give 4 away with these instructions
- Day 10 Feed your remaining Herman with 150g Self raising flour, 3 beaten eggs, 150g caster sugar, 2 tbsp cinnamon powder, 100g chopped nuts or dried fruit, 2 finely chopped apples, 100ml of oil.
- Cook Herman in a lined 7″ cake tin for about an hour at 180ºC.
- Personalise your Herman Friendship cake with the following for example,
- On day 10 I changed the recipe slightly, I added to the original Herman: 150g self raising flour, 3 beaten eggs, 150g caster sugar,100ml rapeseed oil, 2 large grated carrots, 100g dessicated coconut, 50g chopped walnuts and a tsp of vanilla extract. It cooked in about 1hr 10 minutes and then once cooled I decorated with glace icing. you really can be inventive with this part.
The following is the instructions that you give each of your four recipients of the cake mixture but first you need to go through the process before parting with the little Hermans.
Herman Friendship Cake Instructions
- Day 1 Today Herman is given to you. Congratulations you have a friend. Pour him into a bowl as he will continue to grow.
- Day 2 Stir Herman 2-3 times a day with a wooden spoon
- Day 3 Stir Herman, talk to him!
- Day 4 Herman is hungry. Feed him 200mls milk, 200g caster sugar and 250g sifted self-raising flour
- Day 5 Stir Herman
- Day 6 Stir Herman
- Day 7 Stir Herman
- Day 8 Stir Herman, don’t forget to talk to him
- Day 9 Feed Herman as for day 4. Then split into 5 little Hermans and give 4 away with these instructions
- Day 10 Feed your remaining Herman with 150g Self raising flour, 3 beaten eggs, 150g caster sugar, 2 tbsp cinnamon powder, 100g chopped nuts or dried fruit, 2 finely chopped apples, 100ml of oil.
Cook Herman in a lined 7″ cake tin for about an hour at 180ºC . Then eat!
On day 10 I changed the recipe slightly, I added to the original Herman: 150g self raising flour, 3 beaten eggs, 150g caster sugar,100ml rapeseed oil, 2 large grated carrots, 100g dessicated coconut, 50g chopped walnuts and a tsp of vanilla extract. It cooked in about 1hr 10 minutes and then once cooled I decorated with glace icing. you really can be inventive with this part.
Let me know if you decide to do this and how you get on.
What are the United States measurements?
I now live in the UK but when in SA I had a Herman cake recipe and I was constantly making cakes and muffins from this mixture. My children took a muffin to school every day and soon was taking three or four. I had different flavours monthly and at christmas I made Herman into a fantastic xmas cake with all sorts of dried fruit, glazed cherries and fruit mix from a bottle. It was very popular. Aa recipe well worth having and keeping but it can get to be a bit big if you dont use it all the time or dont have friends to give it to.
I believe that it was friendship day yesterday so I Googled Herman. I remember my Mom, sister and I participating in this in the 80’s and 90’s. So pleased I found this. I am definitely going to start 1.
Hi! Do you still have a herman going? I’m trying to track one down!
I remember doing this years ago with the children they loved it now gunna do it with my niece , so much fun + they get to share the fun thank you for sharing the recipe
How long can you keep the four small mixes? I won’t be seeing my friends for a few days after day 9
Will definitely give this a go. Sounds Delicious cannot wait to pass Herman on.
Oh my goodness, my group of friends and I had this going about 40 years ago and it was called Herman then as well. It was a great way to give something different to your friends and the cake was delicious! My daughter and I were just chatting about it and sharing the memories the other day (she was just a little girl at the time we had it ) and i decided to google it. Glad I found it. Thank you. i am going to try it again.
Hi there! Can you use “quick yeast” the type that you would use in a bread maker?
Nova
I have an active sourdough starter, do you think I could use some of it for this cake? How much do you think I would need to add to the other cake ingredients? ( what would be the amount you keep after dividing by 5)
A friend gave a share of her Herman the friendly cake. I was so pleased to do this but to be honest, I don’t know 4 other people that bake so I fed him, cooked him and ate him! Yummy! If anyone is tempted to do this I would say do it! Thank you Hayley for sharing Herman with me!
I’ve missed this cake for many years.. I had it back in the 70s . I really need cups and table spoon measurements please
Buy a digital scale much better for baking. And they are relatively cheap these days.
I have started out with some spare sourdough starter and have added flour milk and sugar to that. So I will see how it develops!
I love this cake. I got mine from our German uncle a few years ago. I’ m just baking your carrot cake version now, smells great, and passed on the others to friends to enjoy x.
Was given Her on by a friend a few yrs ago. I would like to start one again. It was delicious.
Hi it says to cook herman for about an hour, but what temp is that at please, thank you.
Hi
Sorry I forgot to put that in. 180 ºC . I hope that helps! 🙂
thank you x
No way! That’s mad. I love the thought of that. Your photos just always make me envious of your kitchen ware 😉
Hehe, it’s a sweet thing to do isn’t it. 🙂
And how did Herman taste?
Actually I was expecting it to be heavy and stoggy but it wasn’t and was delicious. 😀
Wow, that looks really yummy! Save me a slice.
Ooops, sorry. All gone. 🙂
I remember doing something like a long while ago – although ours didn’t have a name like Herman. I think we just called it a “starter.” If I recall it was really good! Yours, of course, is gorgeous – as is all your sweets.
Wow, quite a high maintenance cake, but I love the concept of a ‘chain cake.’
I know but was worth it. 🙂