Damper

A damper is an Austrian bread type that as far as I know has its origin in the colony area. It is a very quick bread. You just throw the ingredients together and then bake it right away. It can very easily be baked in a frying pan over a campfire.

This is my favourite my favourite bread to make over an open fire. It is so easy to put together and it is quite quickly to cook – especially in a skillet over the fire.

Variation

I often bake the bread with a mix of flour. At least 1/3 wheat flour to let the bread raise but the rest can be quite coarse flour such as barley, rye or spelt. With other flour types I would probably stick to 2/3 wheat and  1/3 random flour. You can also add seeds or grains to the bread, just make sure to soak them first. As for spices I have tried cumin, fresh time, Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, rosemary, time) or pepper (lots of pepper).

Damper

Quick soda bread. Works well as campfire bread.
Course Baked Goods, Bread
Cuisine 19th century, Campfire cooking, Historical cooking
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 1 bread

Ingredients

  • 500 milliliters flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder NOT baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 200 milliliters liquid water/beer/whey
  • Optional Seeds or spices italian ones works great

Instructions

  1. Turn on the oven at 200 C.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients and add in the liquid. You might need a bit of extra liquid. It doesn't matter if the dough is a bit sticky - as long as it isn't dry you are ok. It is a very easy dough to work with.
  3. Shape the bread into a round disk (about 5 cm high) and cut it half way through so you have 8 parts, this make the bread much easier to break.
  4. If you feel like it add some egg, oil or milk to the top of the bread - it will make it look prettier.
  5. Bake it for about 20 minutes until it is sounds hollow and is turning golden at the edges. The bread raises pretty quickly in the oven but it need the rest of the time to bake though - or you will end up with a doughy middle as I learned the other day. You can also bake it in a frying pan over a campfire.

Recipe Notes

Source: This recipe is one i modified from a recipe on albanyaustralia.com.


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