The braai weather is almost gone so take advantage and squeeze one in this weekend. Make this beer bread to accompany your vleis. It’s really quick to make and doesn’t require any of the efforts of a traditional bread, but it still offers all the flavour.

MAKES 1 loaf // COOKING TIME 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
100g bacon, diced
¹/³ cup vegetable oil
100g sugar
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup strong ale
125g mielie meal
175g flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp smoked paprika
Butter, softened, to serve

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. In a small pan, fry the bacon for a few minutes until crispy. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, eggs, buttermilk and ale.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the mielie meal, flour, salt, bicarb and paprika together. Stir in the cooked bacon.
5. Stir the ale mixture into the flour mixture and combine well. Pour into a 20 × 30 cm baking tin and bake for 20–25 minutes.
6. Serve warm with butter.