Herman the German Cake

 

A couple of years ago, just before Christmas I was given a container with some wheat flour sourdough bubbling away in it. It came with some instructions, I was to care for it, feed it & then after 10 days divide into 4 equal portions & give 3 parts of it away to friends. With the last quarter I could make a cake - Herman the German Friendship cake. As the 10 days coincided with boxing day - I ended up making 4 cakes.

After making gluten free Sourdough loaves, I wondered if it was possible to make a friendship cake using Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour. I haven't tried dividing the sourdough mixture & giving it to friends.....yet.

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.

Sour dough starter

10 g Dried yeast*

720 g Warm water

15 g Sugar

340 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

 

I use dried yeast for the sour dough starter, I haven't tried it with wild yeast.  

Method

Combine the ingredients (Thermomix, stab blender, Hand held beater, Stand mixer) listed for the Sour Dough Starter. Transfer dough to a container/bowl large enough to contain the fermenting dough with plenty of room for expansion (the first time I did it the dough overflowed). Loosely cover the bowl with a damp teatowel or plastic clingwrap & leave to ferment for 2 - 3 days in a warm spot. Stir the Sour Dough Starter once a day.

Once the Sour Dough Starter is made it can also be used to make Sourdough loaves. If there is starter left over or you want to keep the starter going it will require feeding every day. Feed it with Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour, a little sugar & water, the amount that needs to be added will depend on how much of the original starter is left. If you haven't used any of the starter add in 170 g of Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour, 1 tsp of sugar & 360 g warm water - this is half of the amount of the ingredients used in the original starter. If you have 1/2 of the starter remaining, feed it with 85 g of Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour, 1/2 tsp of sugar & 180 g of warm water.

 

Ingredients

450 g Sourdough starter

225 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

200 g Brown sugar

125 g Oil (I use Rice Bran oil)#

2 Cooking apples

100 g Glace cherries*

1 tsp Vanilla essence

2 eggs

1 tsp Cinnamon

200 g Sultanas

2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Salt

 

200 g of glace cherries were used in the cake pictured above.

The amount of oil used can be increased to 150 g.

Method

Grease two cake ring tins.

Turn oven on to 170 C.

Peel & core the apples & cut into chunks.

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.

Transfer the mix to the two ring tins.

Bake for 45 - 50 mins at 170 C.

Bring out of the oven & allow to cool.

Variations

When I made the original wheat based friendship cakes I varied the ingredients. In one cake I put brandy & almonds, another dates, raisins, sultanas, glace cherries & pecans & a third cake I grated the apple instead of putting it in as chunks (my family didn't like the grated apple, they preferred the chunks). It is an easy recipe to add in different ingredients - have fun experimenting.