Damper (Aussie Campfire Bread)
"This very traditional Australian bread was the staple food of the famous Australian swagman. Traditionally it is cooked in the coals of the campfire but this version is made in your oven. It's very quick to make and extremely versatile. Damper is a cross between a bread and a scone. It can be either sweet or savoury and the variations are endless - just use your imagination. Try a savoury damper as a side dish with soup. The swaggies often served a plain or sweet damper with butter and golden syrup (corn syrup). Served like this it's called 'cockie's joy' - a 'cockie' being a farm worker, and a 'boss cockie' being the person in charge. Damper does not keep well. It is best eaten the day it is made, but it can be frozen and reheated. Give it a try for something different!"
photo by Missy Wombat
- Ready In:
- 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 3
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk (approximately)
directions
- Set oven to hot 200C (400F).
- Grease an 18cm (7 inch) sandwich cake tin or four single serve ramekin dishes.
- Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Add any other optional ingredients (see below).
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and add most, but not all of the milk.
- Mix with a knife, adding more milk if necessary, until you have formed a fairly moist, but not sloppy, dough.
- Turn dough into a cake tin or spoon into ramekins.
- Smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
- If making a savoury damper, sprinkle the top with cheese and/or add a thin slice or slices of tomato.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown on top and a skewer, inserted in the centre, comes out clean.
- Turn out and cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.
- Serve warm with butter.
- Some Variations: Cheese Damper- add 1/2 cup grated cheese and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Cheese and Bacon Damper- add 1/2 cup grated cheese and 2-3 rashers of cooked, chopped bacon.
- Cheese and Herb Damper- add 1/2 cup grated cheese and 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil OR 1 teaspoon of dried herbs.
- Fruit Damper- add 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit and 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Orange Damper- add the finely grated rind of an orange and 1 tablespoon sugar.
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Reviews
-
This is a wonderful 'quick bread' that's very difficult to screw up! I've had damper before while I was living in Oz, but had never tried making it myself. Well I was visiting my parents this weekend and made them soup w/damper for dinner. They really enjoyed it - said it tasted like a big crusty [American] biscuit. It was perfect paired with our soup. This recipe came together even quicker than I expected; I actually mixed it up on a commercial break! I used all-purpose flour plus 2tsp. soda, which worked just fine. I added about a Tbs. of freeze dried basil, a dash of garlic, and 1/2c. cheddar cheese. I baked it on a baking stone simply because I was attempting to recreate the damper I had eaten. My dad liked it so much he wants to try the campfire version! Thanks for the recipe!! -
Perfect. Mine did use a little more milk but it seems to be my flour - I've had problems with this pack! I'd forgotten how adaptable damper is. I sprinkled half with cheese & the other half with cinnamon sugar. mmmmm -
Great basic recipe. There is so much you can do with this. I cut the recipe in half. I did not have self rasing flour so I added 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt to the regular all purpose flour. Also I added a little more sugar and mixed in some chopped apples. Baked for about 25 minutes I think. Over flowed a little out of my custard cups when baking (I used 2 6oz cups). But this was a great recipe. Very tasty! -
We really liked these. I've never even heard of them b4 but decided to give it a try. I made them without any added ingredients. So easy to make on the spir of the moment. They were great with butter and marmite. Mike liked them as a sponge to clean his soup plate. I'll be making this often with or without the extras. Oh, and I usaed a muffin pan to bake them in. It worked perfectly. Thanks for a great recipe. -
I made the cheese & herb version of the damper in ramekins. I'm looking forward to having the 'hot coal' version on our next camping trip. Very yummy, quick and easy.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>Above: Slideshow of our garden at Avalon Slideshow of our recent holiday at Woodgate Beach, South-East Queensland, Australia. Hi! I'm Kookaburra, from Australia. First, a promise. I will only post recipes on this site which I've made myself and to which I would personally give a 5 star rating - what you give them is up to you ;-) I look forward to receiving your feedback. If you look at my reviews, they're all 5 stars. That doesn't mean I give 5 stars to every recipe I try. I'm just not interested in giving poor ratings to anyone else's recipe because I accept that different people have different tastes. So, I've decided that I'll only review those recipes which I really love and which I'd make again and recommend to friends. If a recipe meets that criteria - even if it needs a bit of 'tweaking' to match my tastes, I'll give it 5 stars. If not, I'll just delete it from my recipe book and no hard feelings. I'm not advocating this as the 'right' approach. I just decided I needed a consistent strategy for rating and this is mine. I'm passionate about cooking - and eating! What I look for in food is something that 'zings' in the mouth. I like lots of taste - I'm not a big fan of subtlety. I don't often cook recipes exactly as written. I like to experiment and adapt things to my own taste. A retired marketing executive and academic, I live with my elderly (but thoroughly modern) mother in a tiny mountain village at the edge of the rainforest. I'm female, happily single, in my mid-40s and boast the Rubenesque figure of a passionate cook! Avalon, our 'story-book' cottage, overlooks a small lake. As I sit at my computer or work in the kitchen, I'm serenaded by a cacophany of native birds - including a very fat family of kookaburras! We have quite a large property and are lucky to have vegetable gardens and a variety of fruit and nut trees. I look forward to sharing recipes on Recipezaar with family, friends and friends I've yet to meet. last minute flight</p>
