Herman - Banana Walnut Muffin

I baked these 5 banana muffins leavened mainly by sweet Herman Starter instead of baking powder. The muffins were soft, moist, and have a velvety texture. The crust was studded with crunchy walnut chunks. And they were not very sweet too 😀

The main feature of the Herman Starter (HS) used in this recipe was - the Herman Starter was cultivated from commercial yeast instead of natural yeast. As I did not harvest the HS while it was at its prime on the 7th day, I added 1/8 tsp of commercial yeast to the recipe to boost the leavening strength of the HS. The cultivation details can be found at the end of this recipe 😁

Ingredients

120g Herman Starter (8th day)

1 egg

25g fine sugar

35g rice bran oil

1/8 tsp instant dry yeast

100g all purpose flour

90g mashed banana paste

1/8 tsp baking soda

20g walnuts, break into chunks

Directions

1.  Stir Herman Starter and wait for it to double in volume. 

As I used my HS on its 8th day, so it took about 3 hours to reach the desired volume.

2. Pour 120g of HS into a clean bowl.

Mix in an egg and fine sugar. Blend well.

Blend in 1/8 tsp of instant dry yeast. You can omit instant dry yeast if your HS is strong (the HS double in volume within 2 hours after stirring).

Finally, stir in the rice bran oil,

and all purpose flour.

Avoid over-mixing the batter, it's alright to keep it lumpy.

Seal with cling wrap and let the batter proof for about 3 hours, or till the batter double in volume.

I mark the double-volume height using an adhesive tape outside the bowl.

3 hours later, the batter has raised to almost touching the marking.

3.  Blend in the banana paste,

and baking soda.

4. Divide the batter among 5 paper cupcake moulds (5cm in diameter).

Cover with a lid and let the batter proof for about 75 minutes, or till the batter reaches about 4/5 the cupcake mould height.

5. Drop some walnut chunks over the top of the batter.

Arrange over a baking tray evenly space out.

6. Bake in a preheated oven set at 180°C for about 25 minutes, or till the top becomes golden. At middle rack of the oven.

Serve the muffins warm or cold 😋

Cultivating Herman Starter using commercial yeast

My first Herman Starter was cultivated using natural yeast. When I was asked about how to cultivate Herman Starter without natural yeast, I told my friends to use commercial yeast. And I added that I myself haven't try out yet. To test out my suggestion, I tried using instant dry yeast, and the result was similar to the HS cultivated using natural yeast.

For a pictorial illustration, you can refer to Little Herman - Sweet Starter which used natural yeast to cultivate.

Average room temperature: 29~30°C

I was told not to use metal spoon to stir the HS, so please use plastic or wooden spoon to stir your HS.


Day 1

Plain flour: 10g

Fine sugar: 17g

Whole milk: 13g
Pinch of instant dry yeast < 1/8 tsp

Total: 40g

Day 2

Only stirring

Day 3

Only stirring

Day 4

1st feeding:

Plain flour: 20g

Fine sugar: 17g

Whole milk: 33g

Total: ~110g

Day 5

Only stirring

Day 6

2nd feeding

Plain flour: 20g

Fine sugar: 17g

Whole milk: 33g

Total: ~180g

Day 7

Only stirring

Day 8

Took 120g of the Herman Starter to bake 5 soft and moist banana walnut muffins 😋

As I have no intention to start another bottle of HS, so I did not start a new round of HS cultivation using the balance HS.