Aussie Damper Bread on a Stick - Chapter 4

The end of February looms, and still no fire food opportunities. Thankfully a weekend away staying with family in south Wales saved the day. What could be more perfect than the kids and their cousins cooking their own pudding over an open fire.

I knocked up a batch of dough about an hour before and wrapped it in cling film. 2 cups of self-raising flour, 3/4 a cup of milk and a bit of sea salt is all it takes for five decent sized dampers. I mixed the ingredients together in a bowl first with a knife and then with my hands. It felt a bit sticky, so I just added a sprinkling more flour.

By the time the dough was needed it had already started to grow and felt beautifully light and airy. I went into the garden with a torch and a large cherry tree had kindly left enough decent sized twigs on the lawn so the five kids would have one each. I used my little finger as a guide for the thickness.

Meanwhile my brother-in-law Jared had started a cracking cooking fire in the outdoor brazier with smallish sized wood so it wouldn't take too long to become embers.

I scrubbed the sticks in the sink to get the mud off them, scraped the ends clean (not really necessary) and worked the dough on to the ends. After 15 minutes of rotating the dampers over the embers, they had more than doubled in size and smelled delightful. I was slightly worried that the embers wouldn't last long enough, but Jared's cooking fire proved to be perfect. There was no danger that the dampers would burn and the cooking finished off at a nice gentle temperature.

My niece, Amber, said the smell reminded her of scones. Not surprising really, scones on a stick cooked over an open fire is what they are. The ingredients are the same.

The kids and cousins loaded them up with butter, jam, Nutella, you name it. They loved them and I fulfilled my 'at least monthly' obligation to cook over fire. Everyone's a winner.

All the time our dear Kitty had filmed the experience with her video camera. Once she's done her editing homework you will be able to check it out on YouTube. Fire Food's first...