A couple of months ago I was at a friend’s house when I noticed a bowl of batter sitting on their kitchen bench and on top, a single white A4 piece of paper titled ‘German Friendship Cake’. I was fascinated – was this the food equivalent of a chain letter?
Now I’ve known people to have starters bubbling away in their kitchens but some seem like more work than looking after a domestic cat. I’ve also heard how unwilling people are to share their starters so I just love that this is a concept where the creator divides and shares their wares on day 10. What says “you are my friend” better than giving someone a cake mixture?!
My friend’s mixture came from his father and so I initially questioned whether it had been passed through generations, whether I had in fact discovered a centuries-old family heirloom? I didn’t but that would have made a great story.
If you do happen to receive a portion of mixture (aka Herman) from a friend, you can follow my recipe on making it into bread. Alternatively you can stick to tradition and follow the recipe – adding apple and cinnamon.
If you’re not gifted a mixture you can make your own from scratch – just search online for ‘German Friendship Cake’.