Herman the German Friendship Cake

Last week my friend gave me an empty margarine tub full of some yeasty smelling gloop.

"It's a German friendship cake, I'll email you the details...take the lid off, cover with a tea-towel but don't put it in the fridge!"

Here's what the email said:

Hello, my name is Herman.
I am a sourdough cake. I’m supposed to sit on your worktop for 10 days without a lid on. You CANNOT put me in the fridge or I will die. If I stop bubbling, I am dead.

Day 1. You get Herman and put him in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Day 2. Stir well
Day 3. Stir well
Day 4. Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar and milk. Stir well.
Day 5. Stir well
Day 6. Stir well
Day 7. Stir well
Day 8. Stir well
Day 9. Hungry again. Add the same as day 4 and stir well. Divide into 4 equal portions and give away to friends with a copy of these instructions. Keep the 4th one.
Day 10. Herman is very hungry. Stir well and add the following:

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

Mix everything together and put into a large greased baking tin. Sprinkle with a quarter of a cup of brown sugar and a quarter of a cup of melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes at 170-180C. When cold cut into finger pieces. Cake freezes well and is also delicious warm with cream or ice-cream.

I followed all the instructions and baked it in my usual cake tin for the specified time. Unfortunately the first attempt was a disaster. I took the cake out of the oven but it was still almost completely liquid in the middle and spilled out all over the work top making a right mess. I put it back in the oven and eventually, after another 20 minutes it was baked through. My poor friendship cake didn't look very appealing but it did taste nice.
As I went through the process I often thought of my dear friend and neighbour Nora, she would have loved this. She would have come round everyday to see how it was going and she would have delighted in trying out the finished product. The new neighbours have not moved in yet....I wonder if they like to cook?

Anyway, instead of giving away one of the yeast portions, I decided to have another go at baking the cake. This time I used a ring cake tin. The result was much better as the cake cooked evenly and a lot quicker (35 minutes), also saving on my electricity bill.
I took the cake into work and everybody loved it.
All the nurturing of the dough is worth it... the final result is a very moist and tasty fruit cake. As I eat it I wonder where the original source of the sourdough came from...how many "friends" have nurtured it and passed it on? What distance has it travelled?

Champion with a nice cup of tea.

Have you ever tried making one of these friendship cakes? How did you get on?