Back in the day, stockmen (people who take care of livestock… yes, I had to Google that) who were working and traveling in remote areas used to make damper over a campfire. Back then damper was made from a simple mixture of wheat flour, water and salt, although it seems like it’s evolved over the years to mean almost any sort of Australian quick bread.
Beer Bread – DamperÂ
It took me a couple tries but I finally got a gluten-free damper that I was happy with. It was springy, had a soft crust, and kept surprisingly well (although it didn’t last too long). I baked this in a small springform pan to get the same roundish shape of the original dampers, but feel free to bake it in a normal loaf pan. Then added some beer… I have a feeling that the stockmen wouldn’t mind.
Just one note of caution: I tested the bread after about 45 minutes, and a toothpick came out clean. I started slicing it and another part of the bread was still wet. So, make sure to test several areas of the bread before taking it out of the oven.
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup millet flour
2 Tablespoons rice bran (can substitute brown rice flour if you’re unable to find)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup beer
3 Tablespoons oil
2 eggs
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 6.5-inch springform pan and dust with rice flour.
In a large bowl combine the brown rice flour, cornstarch, millet flour, rice bran, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Then, stir to combine.
In a medium bowl, mix about half of the beer with the oil and eggs and then add to the dry ingredients and stir to incorporate. Â Add the remaining beer and stir well to mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in several areas all come out clean.
If you want to try another recipe with beer, then you’ll like my pluto pups (Australian beer battered hot dogs).