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Herman [Friendship/Amish] STarter

Recipe Link: http://www.pipeline.com/~rosskat/wizzac.html

List of Ingredients




Herman/Friendship/Amish/ Sharing) Starter

Before I begin, I want you to know there are many versions of this sweet yeasted fermented type of batter. I recently discovered a cook book at the Barnes and Noble Book Store devoted entirely to Herman baking called The Best Of The Herman Sourdough Herald for those of you interested. Herman starter can be used for cakes, cookies, buns, rolls, biscuits, white yeast bread, pie crusts, doughnuts, or most any baking recipe. I have had this particular Herman cake recipe for many years. For those of you unfamilar with the recipe, the basic Herman recipe which circulated ( 1980's ) produced a sweet, moist, dense like cake/bread similar to zucchini bread in my opinion. The cake freezes well.

Original Mother Starter
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs. active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
3 Tbs. sugar

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of water. Add remaining water, sugar, salt and flour. Mix very well in a non metallic container. Cover loosely at room temperature
with waxed paper or a cheesecloth for 5 to 10 days OR until fermented and bubbly. Stir each morning. On the 5th day or when bubbly, feed and stir in with
the following:

The Feed
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup room temperature milk
1 cup flour


This is actually day 1 or the first feed day. Cover and refrigerate the mixture. On day 5, feed again. Continue to stir each morning, recover and refrigerate.
On the 10th day Herman is ready for use with the recipes for cake, breads, rolls etc.

A Herman Coffee Cake Recipe
Again, there are numerous versions of the recipe. All are very similar in nature- perhaps more or less eggs, more cinnamon etc. Search the Net for other
related recipes. At least I got you going with the starter and one basic recipe! What I must tell you is that you should make your cake with part of the
Herman batter and give the other parts away ( 1 cup each of Herman in a plastic container- you should have about 3 to give away. The remainder should be
at least 2 cups for your own cake recipe ). How much can you continue to make, bake and give away? Well that is up to you! Herman tips: you may freeze
portions of the starter if you wish. Discard Herman starter if it gets moldy or looks off.

Cake:
2 cups Herman
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1 cup raisins ( or chopped nuts, chocolate chips etc. )
1 cup brown sugar ( or white sugar )
2 eggs, beaten
Topping:
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs. flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix cake ingredients well with mixer or by hand . Pour into a greased 9 x 13 oblong pan. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over cake batter. Bake in a
350F oven for about 45 to 55 minutes or until tested done.May be also baked into 2 small loaf pans instead.Freezes well.

Recipe