Aussie Damper with Wattleseeds & Golden Syrup

Damper is also known as “bush bread” or “seedcake.” Damper is a European term that refers to a bread made by Australian Aborigines for many thousands of years. Damper is made by crushing a variety of native seeds, and sometimes nuts and roots, into a dough and then baking the dough in the coals of a fire. A staple diet for the nomadic lifestyle, this humble favorite is easy to make, cook and transport.

Later, white Australian settlers would substitute wheat flour for the native seed flour used by Aboriginals, and they named it “Damper.” Mangari is the Gurungyi tribe name for the bread, but other tribes had different names.

Ingredients

2 cups self-rising flour

2 tablespoons Wattleseeds

1 pinch salt

1 cup water

In addition –

2 extra tasty must haves

— creamy butter and golden syrup — to smother over your slab of damper! LINK

Method

Yield 1 Medium Loaf

1. If you’re using a camp oven, build a fire and get a nice bed of coal s going.

2. If you’re baking in an oven at home, lightly grease a baking tray and preheat the oven to 200˚C.

3. In a bowl, combine the flour, Wattleseeds and salt.

4. Using a fork, make a well in the center.

5. Slowly start to add enough water until the mixture comes away from the sides of the bowl.

6. Combine until mixture begins to form a dough. — This is the most important step as you don’t actually want to knead it, you just want to leave it as it is.

7. Using your hands, cup the dough – and slowly work it – until you get a nice round shape. Do not knead the dough, as you will push out the air and make it dense.

8. Set the ball of dough onto the lightly greased tray and flatten gently to make a round 17 cm across

9. With a knife, score a cross, then half of eac h section again – giving you 8 section s

10. Sprinkle some flour over the top of the damper. (This gives the final damper a nice crusty top.)

11. Bake for 30 minutes until golden or until the damper sound s hollow when tapped.

Hi, I’m Mikki, Born in Sydney, Australia, I am the owner of Mikki’s Croatian Kitchen, in the valley of Župa Dubrovačka, Croatia. I married a Croatian seaman 25+ years ago and moved permanently to Dubrovnik in 2003. We have a small property with 30+ free-range chooks (chickens), 50 lemon trees, amongst other citrus trees, a couple of olive trees and we grow our own vegetables and herbs all year round. My love of cooking was re-ignited when we started producing everything on the property, nothing beats FRESH!! I love fusion food. Having been a part of many multicultural communities during my life, I know that food brings us all closer as a common denominator. I believe we can mix recipes from around the world just like we can mix our love for each other.

If you’re ever in Dubrovnik, join me for a cooking class or drop in to see our sustainable life style and pick up some of my all-natural cooking and body products grown on site: CHECK IT OUT!