Eloise helped me bake today. We had another go at a sourdough Herman cake. This time we made a Nutella muffin version.

Eloise was very good at helping with the stirring (although i did have trouble stopping her eating the mixture!). During the baking she insisted on sporting a Grecian look by only having one arm in her babygrow. Not sure if this is her signature baking outfit, we'll find out next time!

We drizzled white chocolate on top to fnish them off. Feedback on these cakes from the adults  were that they were a little dry - this could be because we ran out of oil so they were missing about 1/3 cup.  The kids however loved them with Eloise's cousin Emily eating 2 in one sitting!

After a mid week Hen do last night for my friend Jen, I woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover. Eloise needed breakfast and the first thing i saw was the last Herman muffin. She scoffed the lot in minutes. I can report the cake tasted as fresh as moist as it did when baked so they last well.

My friend Gilleon made her Herman today and doesn't he look yummy! 

She went for a raisin, mixed peel and flaked almonds version and i can report that he is very tasty.

There are lots of Herman fan sites so you can find hundreds of recipes to make your Herman taste different every time.

I am already mulling over my next bake...

Chris is out tonight so the perfect time to cake Herman (feels a little odd after nurturing him all week)

This is what i am supposed to add today before i bake:

• half tsp (teaspoon) salt
  
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2/3 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

I decided to adapt the recipe as i am not a fan of cinnamon. I have ditched he apples too and instead i added fresh strawberries and chocolate chips. I used the tulip muffin cases as i suspected they would rise very high.

I was correct! They rose really high and looked amazing! I wasn't too sure about the taste when they were warm but once they cooled down they tasted lovely. Very yeasty at first but that settled once the tastebuds adjusted. They were very moist too and had a slightly doughy texture. My work colleagues gave them a resounding thumbs up!

Day 9 has arrived! Time to give Herman another feed then split him into 4 -  2 parts to give away to friends, 1 to bake tomorrow and 1 to keep and grow again.

Herman is now on settling in nicely and growing every day. We have given Herman a feed of 1 cup of each - milk, plain flour and sugar on he day we got him (Day 4). Eloise and i stir him every day and watch him bubble. Looking forward to bake day!

Today i have been given a Herman friendship cake mix by my good friend Gilleon. She has informed me that he has been nurtured to Day 4 and gave me a sheet of instructions o follow...
Herman is a sourdough cake, whose recipe dates back centuries. Similar to a chain letter he gets passed round circles of friends and families but actually isn’t as annoying. You must nurture Herman for 10 days before baking as a yummy cake. 

Here is a picture of Herman the on the day he arrived. he yeast in the mixture means he bubbles away constantly. The instructions tell me to cover him loosely and leave him on my worktop. Some days i need to feed Herman with a cup of each ingredient - milk, sugar and plain flour. On day 9 i split him into 4, bake one part, give 2 parts away, then use 1 part to grow him again. The instructions state ‘You cannot put me in the fridge or I will die. If I stop bubbling, I am dead.’  This made me slightly nervous...My kitchen has a very strong whiff of yeast now Herman has arrived.