
It all began when I posted this photo on Instagram. Kind people wanted the recipe. Only to make these, you need a specific sourdough. So I’ve spent the last 5 days testing a starter recipe. Now I’m pleased to introduce you to: Hermione – our sweet sourdough starter.
I did not say my sweet sourdough starter because that would miss the point of having a starter. The point of having a starter is to share it. So, this will be our starter.
This post will share what a starter is, a brief history of sourdough and how SWEET sourdoughs came to being – as near as I can tell. Then, I’ll walk you through starting your own Hermione as well as her care and feeding.
Five days from now, when your starter is ready, I’ll post the recipe for one of my favourite Hermione Sweet Sourdough recipes – these cinnamon rolls. The next 10 posts will be dedicated to recipes from Hermione. Read on to find out how she got her name and stay tuned for those recipes.

Sourdough Defined
Sourdough is a yeasty starter for leavening hotcakes, waffles, muffins, bread and even cake. This recipe is NOT for an ambient or wild yeast sourdough starter. It is for a Sweet Sourdough Starter which, near as I can tell, was propagated in the late 60s and early 70s.
A Little Sourdough History
Commercial yeast was not available until the late 1800s. Previous to that time, all bread was either unleavened or made with a preferment of wild yeast and bacteria sourdough starter.
Preferments are a mix of flour, water and a leavening agent (like yeast) combined in advance to hydrate the flour and start fermentation. Dough is easier to knead and bread is tastier when you use a preferment.
Since yeast was invented, preferments are divided into ones using commercial yeast and those using wild yeasts and bacteria. When using commercial yeasts, you mix them up to a day ahead and use them up entirely. Preferments with wild yeasts and bacteria are maintained and increased for bread when needed. They are used over and over again. People call them by a variety of names: Levain, sponge, mother, biga, poolish, starter, sourdough starter.
Sourdough and Canada
In Canada, old-timers from the Yukon were called “Sourdoughs”. Whether they came for the gold rush, fur trapping or homesteading, bread making at home was a necessity.
Food supplies came in only twice a year by ship and were transferred to small boats, barges, river steamers, dog sleds or backpacks to reach their destination. Many locales received their supplies only when the steamer could navigate the rivers or lakes during the few months of summer thaw. Orders placed the year before required careful selection with close attention to “keeping” qualities as the en-route timing proved uncertain.
Regular, manufactured, yeast is deactivated in a short time and would deteriorate entirely en-route to the North. Especially, if unusual ice formation and heavy winds at sea delayed the ships’ entry into rivers or ports of call. Ordinary yeast organisms, sensitive to the cold, often refused to grow.
Because settlers could not depend on commercial yeast, their sourdough bread starter, made from ambient “wild” yeast and bacteria, was their staff of life and a precious possession. The combination of wild or adapted yeast in the sourdough starter proved as tough as its old-timer namesakes. Some northerners still claim to use starters which originated before the turn of the 19th century.

Evolution to a Sweet Sourdough Starter
I’m not sure when this Sweet Sourdough Starter evolved. It starts with the help of commercial yeast but does not need it from then on.
It is much more low maintenance than most sourdoughs. You only feed it after you use it and you can even FREEZE IT if you are not going to use it in more than a two week period.
This recipe is a merger of what my Mom’s been doing for 50 years and what I found in the St. Andrew’s, New Brunswick United Baptist Church Cookbook (circa 1960s with recipes from Joyce Bangs and Nan Barker). Plus, some research from the internet.
It looks like, in the 70s, there was a version of this starter affectionately known as “Herman.” That got me thinking of Hermione Granger, that beloved character from Harry Potter. Why?
Remember how Hermione could pull whatever she and Harry and Ron needed out of her little beaded bag that she’d placed the “Undetectable Extension Charm” on? Well, if you charm this starter by feeding it after each use, it will act just like that.
You’ll be able to pull a great variety of wonderful recipes from your starter, just like Hermione did from her beaded bag. So let’s get started on making your very own magical Hermione Sweet Sourdough Starter.
Sweet Sourdough Starter tips:
- Keep the starter in a glass or pottery container for best results.
- Never use a metal container and never leave a metal spoon in the starter.
- The starter should have a clean sour milk odour.
- The liquid will separate from the batter when it stands several days but this doesn’t matter.
- If you feed it after each use, the starter stays well.
- If it turns mouldy or develops an off-odour, throw it away and start over.
To make your Hermione Sweet Sourdough Starter:
Time: 3 days then you feed it on day 4 and use it on day 5
Yield: 1 ½ to 2 cups of starter depending on how thick it becomes. The thickness varies because of room conditions, the age of the starter and other variables.
- 2 cups flour
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 package dry granular yeast (2¼ teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups warm water
- Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl (about 8 cup capacity) and gradually stir in the water. Whisk until smooth.
- Cover with a tea towel and set in a warm (80 to 85℉) draft-free place. Tip: I placed mine in my oven with just the oven light on and it worked great.
- Stir the starter 2 to 3 times a day for about 3 days or until the starter is bubbly and produces a yeasty aroma.
- Transfer the starter to a larger bowl, large jar or plastic container. Cover partially (tilt the lid) and refrigerate.
- Feed it on day 4 and use it on day 5. Feed it again then and tuck it away until next use.
NOTE: Feed the starter only after you use it. If it’s been or will be longer than 14 days between uses, freeze it until you would like to use it again.
To Feed Hermione:
Time: 5 minutes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sugar
- Whisk the flour, milk and sugar in a large bowl until there are no lumps. Then, stir the feed into the sourdough and store it in the refrigerator until the next use.
Caring for Hermione:
- Always feed Hermione after each use.
- Wait at least 24 hours before using again.
- Always keep at least 1 cup of the sourdough from the previous batch.
- If you are not going to use Hermione within 2 weeks, freeze her.
- When you’d like to use her again, let her stand at room temperature for several hours. You want the dough to be completely thawed and a bit bubbly before using again.
Sharing Hermione:
- Give your friend one cup of your starter.
- Feed your starter.
- Tell your friend to feed her once and leave her for 24 hours minimum. After the 24 hours or up to 2 weeks, they can then use up to 1 cup, feed the sourdough again and carry on.
- Make sure to give them all the guidelines listed above.
Ready to make your starter now? Good, cause the countdown is on for my sharing of the first of many good things you can pull from your equivalent of Hermione’s beaded bag! RECIPE #1 will be those Hermione Sweet Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls.
I hope you’ll collect all the recipes. In upcoming posts you can also look forward to Hermione Sourdough Chocolate Cake, Pancakes and Waffles, Biscuits, Strudel, Bread, Orange Date Muffins, Apple Coffee Cake, Banana Bread, and Date Loaf. Let’s get rolling.

Thanks Karen,
My daughter, Sophie, and I will be joining in on the sourdough fun. We just need to pick up some yeast. Can’t wait to get started.
What a great idea, especially given our current circumstances!
Stay well,
Francine
Tres bien mes amies! I’m so happy to hear this. I’ve got to work ahead to have it all ready for you! This is a very happy thing to focus on though so it’s completely happy work for me. And delicious too. Let me know how you make out and a big warm hello to everyone at your home. K.
The cinnamon buns were delicious this morning! Planning on whipping up some Hermione pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.
Thanks again for sharing your sweet sourdough starter.
Happy Easter to you and your family.
So glad your cinnamon rolls turned out well and the Taylor-Gobeils enjoyed them! Pancakes for Easter! Great plan Francine. Hugs, K
Hi Karen,
Im so excited to try the cinnamon bun recipe. I have a sough dough starter that I have been suing for bread. Is it possible to start the Hermione with some of my starter?
Carol Bullied
Hi Carol, I’m thrilled you are going to join the Hermione Sweet Sourdough Adventure. Because the nature of the sweet sourdough is so different from a pure ambient yeast and bacteria sourdough, I would not go there. It might disrupt the texture that Hermione brings to her recipes. You’ll see once you start using her in the recipes I’ll provide that she achieves a different texture to all the baking you’ll produce. Thanks for this great question and thanks for joining our baking circle of friends! Kindly, Karen
HI Karen, I had lots of warm fuzzies this morning when your email showed up in my inbox! I am participating in the Hermione baking adventure and have shared this with my grand-daughters, daughter and daughters-in-law. So many great memories from earlier days! I hope you and family are well.
It’s an interesting idea- to work with milk & sugar at the starter phase. I’ll give it a go but still hang on to my old faithful. Its a little like when I use last weeks sd pancake mix as a starter for the next.
I’m thrilled you’ll try it! And yes, by all means, this is so different from wild ambient yeast sourdough starter, you’ll want to have both on the go. Let me know how you make out. And thanks for leaving a comment! Cheers, K
Hi just wondering if I can use gluten free Flours and coconut milk in this sweet sourdough starter ? Would it work the same ??
Hi Carol,
That’s an interesting idea but I think it will create something totally different than the way the Hermione tastes in these recipes. And the subsequent recipes would not have the same flavours at all.
However, it will only cost you the price of a few cups of gf flour, some sugar and coconut milk plus yeast to give it a try. But again, all the recipes will have to be adjusted likewise and I think that’s where the experiment might start costing you more time and money. If it works great. If not, you’ll be out some time and ingredients but at least you’ll have answered the question. You’ll be creating your own tastes to suit your own needs – so go for it if you are up for it.
With kindness,
Karen
Can this starter be used in any Sourdough starter recipe…. If you prefer a sweeter, not sour or tangy, taste?
HI Kathie,
I think if the recipe calls for 1 cup of starter, you should give it a try.
Go for it! I think that’s how we got all the recipes you see on my blog.
Let me know how it goes.
And thanks for commenting. I really appreciate it.
Kindly,
Karen
Thanks! I’ll give it a try and let you know