Black Pudding and Bacon Damper

A little twist on an Aussie classic. Damper is the bush-bread of Australia, traditionally baked in the hot ashes of campfires. 

A number of flavour combinations are on the go, I liked the idea of trying it with black pudding and bacon, it turned out delicious. Quick and easy to make, the perfect picnic lunch.

Ingredients

3 cups self-raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp caster sugar

75 g chilled butter, chopped

2 slices cooked bacon

1 black pudding

1/2 tbsp dried parsley

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Chop bacon into pieces, remove skin from black pudding and dice.

2.  Sift flour, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub butter into flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in bacon and black pudding pieces and parsley.

3.  Add milk and water to flour mixture. Stir until mixture becomes a sticky dough, add extra water if necessary. 

4.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth. Shape dough into a 20 cm round. Place onto lined tray. With a sharp knife, score top of bread into 8 wedges. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden and hollow sounding when tapped. Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Full of chunky black pudding and crispy bacon bits makes it an ideal snack or lunch. I plan to make this again to take on picnic's.

Enjoy with butter or relish.