Herman the German

When a colleague gave me a potent bowl containing a beige sloppy mixture, I was unsure as to whether I wanted to accept it. She went on to introduce me to Herman, a German Friendship cake that was now entrusted to my care for the next 10 days (whether I liked it or not).



Early Days

I love baking and complain that I don't get to practise enough. So Herman was a little 10 day project to feed my baking habit. However, it couldn't have come at a worse time. What with packing the final items in our house, to moving it around parts of the country and excessively cleaning before we left yesterday morning, Herman didn't get the attention or commitment I would have liked to have given 'him.'

I started a daily photo diary on Instagram. Although this doesn't last the full 10 days. Once the novelty began to wear off and moving day got ever closer I slacked a little. I also defied the instructions by using self-raising flour rather than plain flour and brown sugar as the instructions did not specify. I think it should have been white sugar as the mixture became much darker than the mixture I was given. I also forgot to glaze with melted butter and sugar before putting in the oven. Nevertheless the result was surprising delicious.

The finished masterpiece

Having been almost put off my the smell of the living, bubbling mixture in the kitchen I was apprehensive as to what the final result would taste like. I had a slice straight out the oven, while the apple was still hot and gooey. It went down very well at work too.

The most difficult thing was logistics. Day 9, the day you hand out 3 portions of the mixture to friends to carry on, was a work day. The only bakers at my work were given the same batch that I received and they didn't want to do it again. So two other unsuspecting colleagues started their day with a smelly bowl of Herman on their desks. The third batch went to fellow baking addict and blogger Claire. I'm sure she'll be posting on her experience with Herman over the next few days.

Overall I had a love hate relationship with Herman. I'd definitely do it again, although when I'm in a much more settled situation.

Have you been given Herman the German in the past? How did you get on with 'him'?

L x