Cider and Cinnamon Cake

Yesterday our friends Wayne (@Brazly) and Vicki (@MrsPetticoat) came round for tea. This means two things:

1. I will make enough food to feed an entire army. 
2. I wait until everyone has just lost that 'full as a bugger' feeling, then I pounce with cake!

Vicki shares my enthusiasm/obsession for cinnamon. This means I can really go to town with the stuff! I decided to make one of my old faithfuls for last nights soiree. I call it an old faithful, yet I have never made it the same way twice. I generally look for inspiration in the supermarket booze aisle! This cake is so easy to adapt it's ridiculous. It's also exceptionally easy to make and behaves very well in the oven. Granted, it's not the prettiest cake in the world, but it packs a punch with flavour. 

It has a lovely soft crumb and retains moisture well, but the addition of wholemeal flour adds a little texture to the cake. I generally serve this as either a wedge with a cup of tea, or (as I did last night) with a little vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6

Ingredients: 

• 100g unsalted butter - softened
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs - beaten
• 100g self raising flour
• 100g wholemeal plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1.2 tsp mixed spice
• 170ml cider (feel free to substitute with pear cider, ginger beer etc). I used Magner's Spiced Apple with Honey.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180 C
2. Grease and line a 7 inch cake tin
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
4. Beat in the eggs a bit at a time (add a tablespoon of the flour if it curdles)
5. Add the flours, bicarbonate of soda and ginger to a bowl
6. Sift in in 3 batches, alternating with the cider. Fold into the mix gently
7. Put the mix into the prepared tin and bake for 50-55 minutes in the centre of the oven.
8. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Herman the German Friendship Cake

Herman with his little friend Flat Stanley

A couple of weeks ago my friend Judith sidled up to me at work with an odd look about her, as if she was about to say something quite covert which should have required a special handshake and a wink. She asked if I had ever heard if Herman the German Friendship Cake. I replied, 'yes, I have...' A rush of excitement followed. Jude had Herman. This was fantastic news. 

The next day she appeared with a little tub of a frothy looking substance which smelled a bit like proving bread. It was alive.. ALIVE! He came with a list of instructions, which included how he liked to be treated and when to feed him. He was my new, yet strangely edible pet...

Herman the German Friendship Cake is rumoured to have started in the Amish community in America, and was a way of sharing food amongst those who needed it. Adding basic ingredients meant something simple could come blossom into something sweet and tasty. It's very similar to a sourdough starter, and has become like a modern cake chain letter. Each portion of Herman mix then blooms into four. You keep one and pass three on to your friends with a set of instructions. 

It goes a little something like this...

Day 1: Take Herman home and decant him into a big bowl. Leave him on the worktop (not the fridge - it's chilly in there) covered with a tea towel.

Herman bubbling away

Herman asleep...

Days 2 & 3: Stir well.
Day 4: Feed him with 200ml milk, 200g caster sugar and 250g self raising flour. Stir well.
Days 5-8: Stir well.
Day 9: Feed him with 200ml milk, 200g caster sugar and 250g self raising flour. Stir well and split into four equal portions. Keep one and give the other three away to friends with instructions.
Day 10: Feed him with 150g self raising flour, 3 beaten eggs, 150g caster sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 100g chopped apple, 100g sultanas and 100ml sunflower oil. You can substitute the combined 200g of fruit with your own favourite fillings! Spread him into a greased and lined tin. I used a 7 inch round tin which took an hour and a half on gas 4/180 C. 

Finished Herman!

The finished article is a moist and flavoursome cake with a heavy texture. It's very similar to a farmhouse cake. It was so good I ate about half of it over a day and a half. I took the rest to my mum and dad's to save me from myself...

After receiving Herman from Judith (who received him from her daughter) I passed my Herman onto Emma, Sarah and Tom. And so it continues...

Emma's Herman - this contained apple, apricots and pecans

Sarah's Herman - this one contains mixed, dried fruit

Tom's Herman - this one contained apple

Please leave your own Herman thoughts and experiences below...

Cake to take away the ache...

My friend text me today to show me something that one of her workmates had made for her. Today was D-Day. He's history and she's full of lovely cake.

Bravo to the lady who created this stunner! Whilst cake can't mend a broken heart... it's a good start!