to think that those "friendship" cake things are disgusting?

[Helenagrace]

There's a craze in these parts for "friendship" cakes. For those blessed enough to be ignorant of this craze basically someone hands you a horrible, yeasty, festering culture which you grow in your kitchen for 10 days and then make into a cake. Before you make the cake you remove some of the culture and hand it on to other people.

Am I the only one who thinks this is just disgusting and finds the thought of eating something that has been growing in my kitchen for 10 days simply dreadful?

I seem to be offending loads of people by turning down their offers of cultures - the last one actually told me that this mixture was called Herman as it was alive (she is clearly insane).

I'm not BU am I???

I remember my friend's mum doing this twenty years ago. It was deeeeeelicious!

Oh we made the cake when I was about 10 - it's probably the same starter...

Anyway, as previous posters have said, the cake is absolutely lovely. I'd do it again.

I mean, it's not like you eat it raw.

Oddboots that is complete and utter bollocks.

Sounds in the realms of lentil weaving to me.

Never heard of them. Just take them and chuck them in the bin

YANBU, I was given some by my DD's friend at nursery, hasten to add it went straight in the bin.

I don't mind my own house germs, but you don't know what anyone else's hygiene habits are.

It looked disgusting too [boak]

ha i have had a herman!!!

you could have used it to anchor the QE2 once baked

bruxeur Well the National Institutes of Health seem to think so which is why the Human Microbiome Project is underway.

Ugh, health concerns aside, it sounds revolting.

Just checked. Did you mean to say that there are ten times as many bacteria in our bodies as there are human cells? Because that is both true, and very different from trying to say that only 10% of our body's cells are "human".

Total number of food poisoning statistics for 2007: 93,901. 2010: 74,974
Most common types are:
Campylobacter found in raw meat, unpasterised milk and dirty water. It is destroyed with cooking.
Salmonella found in raw meat, poultry, eggs, unwashed fruit and veg. Killed by cooking.
E.Coli is found in the gut of animals and humans but rarely found on raw fruit and veg. Killed by cooking.
Listeria found in some blue cheeses and unpasturised dairy produce. Killed by cooking.

Food poisoning due to yeast is extremely rare and more likely to be a reaction to yeast. If the cake was bad then the yeast would just die.

YABU.
Whenever we've been given a Herman, he's been delicious. And the cannibalistic aspect of eating something that apparently comes with its own name and personality appeal to my kids no end.

In fact, YABU simply because I now want some, dammit, and don't know anyone with a starter to give away at the moment (ponders putting out an appeal in school newsletter...)

More about sourdough here. I can't find any reports of sourdough or yeast causing food poisoning.

Lancelottie, where are you? You can have a batch of mine if you like!

So if somebody gave you a cake that had been baked in their kitchen you would immediately throw it away because you don't know how clean their kitchen was?

I'm now wondering whether I should divide my Herman up for others or not? Will they look down on me for doing so and think I was being disgusting?

OP, you ain't getting a piece of mine so there!

Tis a shame though that some snooty attitudes stop others from sharing and being generous. I really will think twice now before offering Herman to anyone else.

I would tell them that I'm not good at baking/am on a low-grain diet/are worried about killing Herman and will tell them if I find someone interested in having one.

Personally, while I couldn't take a Herman or other culture for breads/cakes, or yoghurts (both upset my stomach) I would love a culture for fermenting vegetables (I don't think you can transfer a culture for a different kind of food, someone else will likely know better). Properly done fermented vegetables, yum.

My sister just bought me up Herman when she came over half term. I made muffins with him. Delicious! Kids loved it too.

We have our own sourdough starter so was not alien to us at all.

My yeast/ friendship / goo/ Herman cake mix went mouldy.... I was assured this couldn't happen but it did :( .....I was unable to share it with another friend and so the chain is broken and all of my friendships are now doomed forever more :( (cries)

I remember this from about 40 years ago. I am from the North West

So how do you cook it - I clicked on the link, but it only tells you how to make the starter yeast thing.

Thats hardly a new craze! :) and I believe its bread anyway. Once you cook it all the germs go, so make a loaf you might like it!

ooh my mum and I were discussing this just the other day, we last had one in the late 70s. I am going to start one off!!!

I remember doing this as a kid too. I had to convince my mum not to throw the culture straight in the bin, but the cake was pretty unspectacular.. I was banned from passing the culture onto anyone else though.

This thread is hilarious

(PS. Just to make people paranoid, I occasionally bake, and could probably handle stirring a Herman (hehe) for ten days, and my kitchen is a hole. It's horrendous. I DO clean the bits I'm using to chop and measure stuff with/on, but I suspect some of the germ phobes would faint.)

Now I'm having a weird 80s flashback - memories of running between friends houses clutching tupperwares of yeasty cake mixture which I never got to eat any of because it always had dried fruit in it (yuck)

I'm sure we never called it friendship cake or Herman, but I'll be blowed if I can remember what we called it.