Herman the German Friendship Cake

I received Herman two weekends ago.
Herman Day 1
Herman is a sourdough cake with a history dating back around 40 years. The base is made up of yeast, flour, milk and sugar. and basically, the idea is to pass the uncooked sourdough cake mixture around amongst friends and family. Each person that receives a batch of Herman, needs to stir and feed him intermittently on a 10 day cycle. On day 9 Herman can be divided into 4 portions, shared with three other people. The fourth portion is reserved and baked according to recipes that can be sourced online (or made up if you're feeling creative!)
Herman Day 5: Herman has been fed and the yeast is growing and developing!
A more in-depth description of the process of how to care for and cook Herman can be found here:
http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com

Once I had divided my mix, I passed on two of the Hermans to my friends, and kept two portions for myself, one of which I baked on day 10 and the other I kept to start the cycle again and try another recipe with him. I've got a few other friends who are awaiting my second (and final) Herman batch.

I followed the basic recipe that is at the bottom of the instruction sheet I was given when I received Herman.

Adding my Apples to Herman
The only changes I made were with the topping; Instead of brown sugar and butter, I used a 1/2 a cup of flaked almonds and 1 tablespoon of raw sugar. It gave it a lovely crunchy, nutty texture and looked really pretty.
Sprinkling some almonds over the top
When cooked, the result is a sweet, dense cake. It's quite a large cake, so like the batter, the end result is also good for sharing! It's delicious and goes really well for afternoon tea with a nice cup of tea or coffee

The end result

Beautifully moist with apples and raisins inside


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