Saturday, March 26, 2011

A Sweet Treat? Day 5

G'day mates! We are headed down South for an excursion to Australia. I'm excited about this recipe because it is the favorite in New Zealand as well as Australia. This dish is called a damper. A damper is a traditional soda bread. It can be made almost everywhere! By everywhere, I mean in kitchens or in camping situations. Anyway, I don't have a detailed story to tell you today so we will just get on with our recipe. Let's go!

Apple and Cinnamon Damper

You will need:

  • 3 cups self-raising flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • 5 tablespoons of chilled butter, cubed
  • 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 2 gala or pink lady apples, grated
  • 1 egg white, beaten
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 banana, sliced when serving
Do you have everything? Good, now let's get baking!

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a baking tray and line it with baking paper. Lightly grease the baking paper and set aside.
  3. Mix together the flour, salt, sugars and cinnamon in a bowl. 
  4. Use your fingertips to rub butter into flour mixture until the mixture resembles small breadcrumbs.
  5. Add the grated apple and mix well with a wooden spoon.
  6. Add the milk and 1/2 cup of cold water to flour mixture. 
  7. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a sticky dough. Add a little extra water if necessary to moisten the dough slightly.
  8. Turn the dough onto a lightly-floured surface. Gently knead it until it's just smooth -- about 4 times.
  9. Shape dough into a 6 to 8 inch round. 
  10. Place the round on the prepared baking tray.
  11. Rub some flour on a sharp knife and score top of damper into 8 wedges.
  12. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. 
  13. Tap the bread and if it sounds hollow, it's ready.
  14. Let the bread stand on the tray for 5 minutes and then place it on a wire rack to cool.
  15. Slice and serve with butter, banana and maple syrup.



And there we have it, the favorite dessert or Australia and New Zealand. I hope you all can find it in your stomachs to call this dish a favorite for you and your household as well! I will see you all tomorrow. Good night!