April 3rd
2007
Want a baby? were the words, Kristin welcomed us with recently. Not exactly sure, whether I was up to a discussion about family planing early morning, so I simply glazed at her with questioning eyes. She laughed wholeheartedly about my silly face and revealed the background of her deluding question: She was raising a Hermann and therefor looking for adoptive parents.
For me a Hermann (a starter, yeast culture) is a relict from the 80s, a sort of edible chain-letter which actually never made it into my hands. I can't speak from personal, first hand experience with the Hermann family nor have I ever tried the final product. Hearing the term, I couldn't help but picture a classic advocate of the eco-movement wearing woolen socks and sandals raising a Hermann baby - of course it's just a cliché.
So if little Hermann was willing to put up with us and his new home, why not? He's easy going, quiet and grows quickly were the points Kristin made that finally gave me a push and let me throw any unjustified resentments over board. Gotta get Hermann a stylish new home, was the first thing that came to mind, a spring-green Tupperware bowl qualified. As soon as little Hermann's birthday arrived, I proudly showed off his new home to Kristin. Cautiously she divided him from his siblings and moved him to his new bowl, with a few more words of advice:
Hermann doesn't like metal spoons (or bowls), feed him only with wooden ones
No one wants to live in a fridge, he likes room temperature (can you tell by happy gurgle sounds?)
Herman can be frozen (which may seem like a contradiction to rule number two, but is said to work)
Besides the above, Kristin gave me a little letter of instruction on how to make Hermann's life as pleasurable as possible:
Day 1: No action required today, give me some rest and let's connect.
Day 2: Done with resting, today, I'd like to be stirred.
Day 3: I'm starving please feed me: with flour, milk and sugar (a cup of each) and stir me. While we're at it, I'd like to move into a bigger place, don't say I haven't warned you.
Day 4: Need a break, just stir me.
Day 5: Starving!! Feed me again with flour, milk and sugar (a cup of each) and stir me. Today you can take 3 Hermann babies (cups) and pass them on to your friends. Feed what's left of me with oil, flour, sugar (a cup of each), one package of baking powder and vanilla sugar, 3 eggs and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Additionally you may want to add nuts, cherries, cacao or apples. Bake at 160°C (320°F) for 60 to 70 minutes.
So far Hermann is a fine baby, he's doing great. Sitting on our kitchen counter, happily growing, bubbling with occasional baby like signs of flatulence which, hm, well, you can smell all over the place. Searching the Internet for Hermann recipes brought not only an overwhelming number of recipes and feedback to daylight, but also the fact, that not everybody likes the taste of baked Hermanns. Since I still have a few days left, anyone out there, who is Herman-experienced? Who knows a killer Hermann recipe, that blows you away - and is willing to share it? And how about your country, do you have a similar tradition of passing on bubbling yeast culture?
i have also an Hermann at home :-)
Die Hermanns und Siegfrieds dieser Welt sind einfach nicht tot zu kriegen ;) Wir haben daraus oft Stollen gebacken und der war ausgesprochen fein, wenn ich das Rezept noch finde, schreibe ich es später hier rein.
lol. So far I only dealt with real babies and for the time being their noises and, well, flatulences are enough for me. But next time I feel broody again Hermann sounds like a very good alternative indeed : )
This is like the Amish Friendship Bread. Someone had given me some starter and I had to add milk, sugar and flour to it according to the given schedule. I can't remember if the process took 7 days or 10 days before finally being able to bake the recipe that came with the starter. Then I had to pass on the starter to several friends. It was a bunch of fun. It was just so long ago that I don't remember what the bread tasted like!
In the US we call it a sourdough Starter. Though I've not personally kept one, my former mother-in-law kept hers going for years, and dome of the outcomes were very memorable.
Mmmmm- Sourdough biscuits! (Southern US Style biscuits... More like scones)
How funny, I had the same picture in mind, hooped socks and Birkenstock clogs!
I did this several years ago when the starter was making the rounds at work. We call it Amish Cinnamon Bread, though I doubt the Amish background of the bread. This recipe is the one I first used. I've since modified it by replacing the white sugar with light brown sugar, eliminated the pudding mix, and replaced half the oil with melted butter for flavor. It makes a dense, moist, nutty, wonderful quickbread. However, it sticks quite badly despite generous buttering and greasing, so parchment is almost a must.
My mama is always making cakes like this. While I lived in Germany, I was introduced to Hermann as well. In our WG, we ate three of them! I'm pretty sure that the recipe I used is exactly the same as yours.
How does one "conceive" a Hermann? In other words, how can I start a mix?
I grew up in a little village called Evershot (Dorset, UK) & Mum kept a 'friendship cake' culture going for ages - We liked the cake to start with but as time went on it became more sour & produced less smiles with each reappearance! Giving it a break in the freezer seems a good idea...bit of a pheonix!
oh boy. nicky. leider, leider fängt der irgendwann an ganz merkwürdig zu riechen. ganz so wie ein altes paar birkenstocks. good luck anyways! loving the limegreen pot, too!
oooh, this looks like such a great gift!! i definitely would love to find a starter Hermann or some other one :) and try feeding this starter at home. Once Passover is done, I can go back to breads - for now I'm stuck with matza.
Your new baby...that's hilarious! I tried to keep one for a while, but the yeasty smell in my little condominium was just too strong and I had to give it up.
Let me know if you do find any killer recipes...it might be worth giving it another shot!
Love your blog!
Would love to know how to get a little Hermann going in Australia. How do you start a Hermann?
I'm in the US, and Herman (we spelled his name with one less n) came around, I think, in the 70s since I'm pretty sure it was before I left home for good. It is most certainly related to Amish friendship bread, I think Herman came first and was definitely making the rounds of Mennonite and Amish communities. It is certainly a sourdough starter but it differs a bit with all the sugar - it's tailored for sweet doughs.
Someone asked how to start if you don't have a friend with starter... here goes, I'll try not to confuse anyone. Combine 2 cups flour, 2 cups warm water, 1/4 cup sugar and one package dry yeast. leave in a warm place, loosely covered, overnight. The next day cover him tightly and put him in the fridge. Stir daily for 5 days. On the 5th day you start the regular feeding schedule. Unless you have him in a really large container it's probably easier two divide him in two parts, should be about one cup in each container.
This is the start of routine feeding, "feed" consists of one cup flour, one cup milk and half cup sugar in each container. Feed Herman on day one and day five, stirring on days in between. On day ten you should have four cups of Herman in each container. You need one cup to start the feeding schedule over for yourself, two cups per every recipe you want to make, and plenty of cups to give to friends.
Herman Coffee Cake
2 cups Herman
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup raisins or nuts (optional)
If you're using an electric mixer just dump everything together and mix it until just mixed. If you're stirring it together by hand it's easier to combine the wet ingredients and the dry seperately and then stir them together. Pour into prepared 9X13 pan.
Combine:
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
rub in half a cup of butter to make crumbs. Sprinkle on top of coffee cake batter. Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes.
Combine:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
in saucepan. Bring to a boil and let boil for a few minutes. Pour over coffee cake while cake and glaze are hot.
Herman Cinnamon Rolls
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm milk
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups Herman
Combine yeast, warm water and sugar in large bowl and allow yeast to dissolve and bloom. Add rest of ingredients and knead well. (you all are bread bakers right? you know if it feels good and isn't sticky or if you need to add a bit more flour...) Allow to rise until double.
Roll dough out into rectangle about half and inch thick. Brush with 1/2 cup melted butter. Combine 1 cup sugar or brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Sprinkle over melted butter. Roll up dough and slice into 1 inch slices. Let rise until imprint remains when you touch a roll. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Glaze with a powdered sugar, vanilla and milk glaze. Personally, I tend to sprinkle raisins in there with the cinnamon and sugar...
i'm like you, nicky, was painfuly aware of hermann in the eighties and never got one. but then, i probably wasn't really the motherly type (even) back then... curious to see how your experiments go!
En Suisse aussi nous connaissons Hermann depuis bien longtemps. Il apparait et disparait par vagues...comme un phénomène de mode. C'est un levain liquide qui peut être utilisé dans la confection des pains conventionnels et dans toutes les pâtes levées en général. Un peu d'imagination et on peut créer sa propre recette.
La base d'Hermann pour commencer, c'est:
2 dl de lait, 125 de farine, 100 gr de sucre.
J'aime beaucoup votre blog, je viens souvent vous voir.
Bien à vous
verO
My mother used to raise several Hermanns while I was a kid, I will ask her for her favourite recipe, maybe you'll like it, too.
Ha, this so reminds me of my schooltime. It was a big one in the nineties too. Everyone had to have a Herman(n) , even the boys! I didn't make one in 12 years!
A Hermann ... never heard a starter called that, and I can't say I've ever heard of one being handed over like a chain-letter. Yet, somehow, it seems familiar -- something from the 80's perhaps. Funny you have a Hermann going, though. I have a biga sitting in the kitchen and while knocking that thing together earlier today I thought about baking a sourdough bread. I hope you get some good tips about what to bake.
I'm looking forward to the next episode of Herman.
I have one right now... if the smell bothers you, keep it in a gallon sized zip lock bag (or other zipper plastic bag)... you'll have to let the CO2 out every day or so, but in my recipe, you feed it on the 5th day and bake on the tenth, so it's less labor intensive, and the bag makes it so you don't smell it at all. Instead of stirring it, you just mush the bag a little bit every day.
I had a Hermann baby but I made too much mess to be allowed to keep him :-(
I'm just confused ;)
I've been thinking about starting my own yeast culture in the fridge somewhere to start making sourdough later this year. My wife loves the stuff!
Annie, Thanks for sharing your recipe and the link! I'll check it out!
Lady Lunchalot, Pfirsch have a look at verO's comment. Although I haven't tested it, it sounds like a good basis to start from...
Gwen, THANK YOU for the recipes, they all sound like great ways to put Herman(n) to good use. I'll give them a try shortly!
verO, Thanks for the recipe! I'm sure there are a few here who'd like to start a Hermann right away!?
Stacy, Thanks for the tip I'll make a note for next time! My Hermann is pretty rambunctious, I keep him in a Tupperware container and although I close the lid whenever I'm in the kitchen, he keeps lifting it up all by himself again and again ;)
In Ohio, we called it Amish Friendship bread. It seems to come and go. I remember my mom getting it from her ladies church group back in the 60s. Then again in the late 70s when I began trying it for myself. In the early 90s I was given some from a woman at work. I bet I haven't even heard about it for 15 years.
Thanks Annie and Gwen for the recipes for the actual starter. This puts me in the mood to try it again.
I have a file of recipes for amish friendship bread as well as some starters I'll send to whoever wants it. Just email me at jillpettis@kc.rr.com.
You can keep Hermann in the fridge. It just slows the process down, which can be good as he grows fast. Keep him in the fridge and feed him once a week. I take what i need for my recipe and then feed the rest and put it back in the fridge. If you want to use him more than once a week he will need some counter time or else he won't fully develop. He is very hardy though, so don't be shy about experimenting.
Cheers,
Kate
OK, I'm officially confused.
Once Hermann is ready to use, after the initial 15-day startup period, can you use Hermann in recipes on any day, or only on the last day (5th? 10th?) of the feeding cycle? And if it's on the last day, do you have to feed him first, and then take some out for the recipe, or use what's available before you do that day's feeding?
thanks to all Hermann helpers,
Eric
Hi Eric, Since I've only received a Hermann baby and didn't start the family from scratch I can't really help, can anyone?
Ooh, I remember Herman! We had one in the late eightees, given to us by my surrogate aunty. It didn't last very long because we only had one recipe and that got a bit boring in the end.
For years I have been trying to find a new Herman but they were nowhere to be found. With this entry in mind I will definitely start up a new Herman chain and pass the friendship around!
Thanks!
The sring green tupperware is so gorgeous ...