5 Ingredient Australian Damper Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What did the Australian aboriginals use to make flour for damper? ›

In Central Australia, native millet (Panicum decompositum; Panicum australianse) and Spinifex (Triodia) were commonly used. Wattleseed, from various species of Acacia, could also be used in the flour mix.

When cooked as smaller, individually-sized portions, the damper may be known as "bush scones" or "johnnycakes" (also "johnny cakes"). North American cornmeal bread is also called johnnycake; it is uncertain if this influenced the Australian term.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Whack the mix into a freezer bag and refrigerate until required. I like to make damper dough at home and take it camping rather than deal with the mess (and the labour-intensive traditional method) in a camp kitchen.

Damper bread was traditionally cooked on a stick over ashes that were dampened, which is thought to be why it gets the name. According to the Australian National Dictionary, Damper bread means 'something that suppresses appetite'.

Breads like damper and soda bread can be healthier alternatives to plain white bread.

It was made famous by drovers, who baked this bush bread in the coals of their camp fire, and has been recognised as a staple of bush life for decades. It is believed that Damper was originally developed by stockmen, who needed a way to carry food with them into remote areas.

That jam-first method in known as the Cornish style — versus the Devonshire style, which layers cream first. I followed the queen's lead, spreading a bit of each curd on a third of the scone, then greedily scooped the clotted cream and slathered it all over.

The resting of the dough helps to relax the dough so everything remains tender, if you kneaded the dough and baked the scones immediately the insides would be great but the outsides would be tough and chewy.

We've been making our Yorkshire Fat Rascals for 40 years – in fact, we're famous for them. But if you're new to this Bettys favourite, then let us explain: a Fat Rascal is a wonderfully buttery and crumbly fruit scone made with plump currants and tangy citrus peel.

Yes! If a recipe calls for proofing bread dough overnight in the refrigerator, it can be proofed on the counter at a warmer temperature for a shorter period. Rather than placing the dough in the refrigerator overnight, leave it covered on the counter for 1 to 4 hours until it's ready to bake.

How to cook damper without a camp oven? ›

Seal the dough inside the foil and then bury it deep in the campfire's hot coals. Cover with more coals and light the fire around the damper. Cook for about 20 minutes before removing the foil and opening it to see if the it is well-cooked. If you notice a crispy crust, it means that it is almost ready.

If the dough has a sour or off smell, it may have gone bad due to bacteria or yeast growth. If the dough has a strange or abnormal color, such as gray or green, it may have gone bad due to bacteria or mold growth. If the dough is sticky or slimy, it may have gone bad due to bacteria or yeast growth.

Reliance on the seeds became more pronounced in the Holocene – the recent, post-ice-age period - but some archaeological sites, such as Cuddie Springs contain grinding stones dated to about 30,000 years. These stones were used to grind wild seeds into flour which in turn was baked as bread.

Traditionally, damper is made by crushing and grinding native seeds, such as Spinifex seeds or Wattleseeds, with millstones into a flour and then combining it with water to make a dough, which would then be baked over the hot wood coals of a campfire.

Damper is camp fire bread. It was made by drovers, who baked it in the coals of their camp fire, and was a staple of bush life for decades. It was made with very simple ingredients that were easy to carry. Flour, water and a pinch of salt was the base and sometimes the whole recipe.

Although flour from wheat grain is now widely used throughout the Western Hemisphere, the indigenous people of the Americas have been using flours from other sources in their cooking for a long time. Until the 1500s, acorn and mesquite flours were staples for the tribes of the southwestern United States.

Damper was traditionally made in a cast-iron pot with a lid, called a 'camp oven'. The entire pot was either covered in hot wood coals or the camp oven was placed in a hole in the ground and surrounded with hot wood coals. Occasionally it was cooked on a stick over a fire - sort of like roasting marshmallows!

Plain flour (or all-purpose flour) is made from wheat. These two names = the same thing. Aussies call it Plain Flour, and other parts of the world (like the USA) call it all-purpose flour. Wheat is starch and protein.

Traditionally, damper is made by crushing and grinding native seeds, such as Spinifex seeds or Wattleseeds, with millstones into a flour and then combining it with water to make a dough, which would then be baked over the hot wood coals of a campfire.