Recipes / Bread
Cheese and onion beer bread
A savoury beer bread loaded with sharp cheddar, spring onion and a little mustard, baked in a loaf tin in a covered kettle braai or the oven.
- Prep
- 15 min
- On the fire
- 50 min
- Plan ahead
- 10 minutes cooling in the tin
- Serves
- 1 loaf, 10 to 12 slices
- Done at
- 200°F (93°C)
Ingredients
For the top
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Set up for indirect heat: light the outside burners (or one side of a two-burner grill) and leave the burner under the food off.
- Close the lid and adjust the lit burners until the lid thermometer reads the temperature in the recipe. Put a drip tray under meat.
- Gas holds a steady heat, so you can skip any step that adds fresh coals. Go by a thermometer in the food rather than the clock.
- Set the kettle braai up for indirect cooking with low coals on both sides and none in the middle. Aim for about 180°C (350°F) under the lid.
- Grease a loaf tin of about 22 x 12 cm (9 x 5 inches) and line it with baking paper.
- Mix the flour, salt and mustard powder in a large bowl, then toss in the cheese, spring onion and parsley so they are coated in flour.
- Pour in the beer and stir until just combined. The dough should be thick and sticky.
- Spoon it into the tin and level the top. Scatter over the extra cheese and spring onion.
- Put the tin in the middle of the grid, away from the coals, close the lid and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Turn the tin halfway through.
- If the cheese on top is browning too fast, lay a loose sheet of foil over the tin for the last 15 minutes.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before you turn it out and slice it.
Done when: the top is deep golden with crisp melted cheese, a skewer in the middle comes out clean with no wet dough, and the centre reads about 93°C (200°F).
Tips
- In the oven, bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45 to 50 minutes.
- For a fuller onion taste, fry a finely chopped brown onion in a little butter until soft, cool it, and add it with the spring onion.
- This loaf toasts well. Slice it the next day and toast the slices on the grid over low coals.
Cheese and onion is the most common way South African home bakers dress up a plain beer bread, and it turns a sweet tea-time loaf into one that belongs next to braaied meat. Cut it thick and butter it while it is warm. It bakes in a kettle braai set up for indirect heat, as explained in kettle braai indirect setup, and makes good toasted sandwiches the next day, much like braaibroodjies.
Source
Adapted from Make your own beer bread for #SANBeerDay at IOL and Bierbrood at FIN Global.