It seems very odd that something about which you haven’t heard for 20 or 30 years is suddenly on everybody’s kitchen table. Oh, well that might be an exaggeration, but it does seem to be the topic of many culinary conversations these days. It was even mention on the Radio by Radio Two’s Zoe Ball. It may be part of the “Bake Off” phenomenon or the “Too many cooks ……on TV” madness, but whatever its origin, I have been given two ‘starters’ this year and I have to say that the versatility of it has been remarkable.
But first of all I should perhaps tackle the more important question - what is “Herman”? Well, Herman is the edible equivalent of a chain letter, the gift that keeps on giving and the cake that you can bake forever. You are presented with a tub of yeasty, floury, sugary mix and a set of instructions which give you full details of how to “look after” your Herman, when to feed him and when to stir him together with a simple recipe or two for when you wish to “convert” a part of him into a cake. The idea also is for you to divide the mix and pass some along to your friends and family…and so the chain continues.
The intriguing thing is that when you have the cake baked from a mix that has been passed on - you could be eating a cake from a mix that is quite old - well past a normal sell by date, in fact!
But if you haven’t been given a Herman either because you have no baking friends, have been living on another planet or have no friends at all, then here is how to set up your own starter….
You will need:
A packet (7g) of dried yeast
150g of plain flour
225g Castor Sugar
250mls of warm milk
100mls warm water
• Mix the yeast into the warm water, stir and leave for 10 minutes or so
• Separately, mix the flour and sugar and slowly stir in the warm milk
• When the yeast mix has started to bubble stir this into the mix well and cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave for 24 hours.
You can now pretend that you have friends as you are the proud owner of a Herman.
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| A nicely bubbling Herman... |
These are the typical instructions that come with your yeast mix if you have friends who have given you one…
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.
Day1: Put me 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 250g 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. (I would actually ensure that you hold some back for yourself too.)
Day 10: Now you are ready to make the cake. Stir well and add the following:
225g castor sugar
300g plain flour
Half tsp (teaspoon) salt
160m cooking oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 cooking apples cut into chunks
200g raisins
2 heaped tsp cinnamon
2 heaped tsp baking powder
Mix well and pour the well combined mix into a lined loaf tin.
Bake in a medium oven (170-180 degrees C) for 40 – 45 minutes or until a skewer placed into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
You may need to cover the top of the cake with foil until the middle of the cake is cooked through.
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| A "basic" Herman cake |
This will produce a yeasty, sugary yet remarkably tasty and moist cake with a lovely depth of flavour. You will also learn why, earlier I suggseted that you keep some mix back for yourself - you will want to make more - it's definitely one you'll want to make again!
As I said earlier, Herman is wonderfully versatile and I intend to publish part two on this blog shortly which will provide further recipes for cakes and also how to convert part of the mix into a sourdough bread culture. Watch this space.....
