Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Beer damper rolls

In years gone by, people in Australia's bush would make a simple bread from flour and water. That's how we made it in scouts, anyway. That's how we were told it was made. Most recipes you see online, though, use milk in place of water. I'm not sure which is authentic as, really, I use neither milk nor water and, as a general rule, I care more for flavour than authenticity.

When I made these rolls, it was to use them as burger buns. If you want to make a large loaf or dinner rolls or anything in between, you could easily do so by portioning the dough differently. You might have to adjust the cooking time too.

Ingredients:

500 g self-raising flour, sifted
350 mL beer
50 g salt-reduced butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1/2 tsp white sugar
a pinch of fine sea salt
a splash of milk

Pre-heat oven to 190*C.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter cubes, too. Rub them into the flour as if you're making pastry or scones. Once the butter and flour are well combined, add the beer. Mix with your hands. Form the dough into a ball. If it's sticky, add a bit more flour.

Split the dough into four evenly sized pieces. Roll them into balls. Place the balls as far apart as possible on a lightly greased oven tray. Brush balls with a little milk. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

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