Dampers are traditional Australian soda breads,  originally made by swagmen and sheep drovers – the were  made from wheat flour and normally baked in the coals of a campfire. In days gone by, the stockmen carried meagre rations with them and sugar, tea and flour were all they really had to eat with their meat. For this reason, a simple bread made with bicarbonate of soda was the answer – it was cooked until it sounded hollow when tapped and eaten with the meat. When they had a little golden syrup to eat with the bread it was called cocky’s joy for some reason or the other. Aborigine women traditionally made bush bread from

nuts and grains and then baked it the bread in the coals which is, probably, where this idea originated. Today the bread is still popular and often made by Australians – naturally many variations exist –not least of which a recipe that requires beer instead of milk and has the dough wrapped around a stick and cooked over an open fire.

Ingredients

• 500 g self-rising flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp  sugar
• 3 tbsp butter
• 250 ml  milk

Method

• Combine the flour, the salt and the sugar in a bowl. And then cut  in the butter until fine crumbs form.
• Add milk to make a soft dough, knead lightly on a floured board until the dough is smooth.
• Shape into round loaf, brush with milk and bake at 200 C for 30 – 40 minutes on until it sounds hollow when tapped.