This post may contain affiliate links, it helps us pay the bills, more info here.
Outdoor cooking recipe to bake a cake in a dutch oven. Great camping recipe or to keep you house cool in summer, outdoor baking is the way to go. We use this basic cake recipe and add in whatever fresh fruit we have in the summer months. Its a fun way to bake a cake that doesn't heat up the house, or when you are camping, this is a super simple cake recipe. Its easy to change up the recipe to suit whatever ingredients you have.
How To Bake A Cake Outdoors
You need to have a fireproof safe place to do this. We use our grill, it works well because it is a good height, and is already built for fire. Or you could use some other fireproof material, but be careful, you will be using hot charcoal to do this. In a camping situation, you can use the coals from a campfire, but you will have to pay more attention to the coals, probably adding a few during the baking process.
If you do not have some oven-proof bowls of some sort - we like to use ramekins - you can use balled up foil to raise the dutch oven above the coals. You do not want the bottom of the dutch oven to touch the coals, this can burn the bottom of the cake. If your dutch oven does not have a flat lid, you can make a ring of foil that will keep the coals from falling off the top of the dutch oven.
To Bake a cake this way requires some experimentation, its easy to burn the cake if the coals on the bottom are too hot. There is some trial and error here. And wear oven mitts or heat proof gloves, this stuff is hot!
Easy Cake Recipe:
1 cup self rising flour
OR 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar – you can use less sugar, this cake is pretty sweet
1 can of peaches, drained, light syrup preferred, 20-24 oz
Preheat the oven to 375F
Put the stick of butter in a 9×9 baking dish, preferably a glass dish, and place in the oven to melt the butter.
Mix together the dry ingredients, then add the milk and mix.
Pour the batter into the heated baking dish with the melted butter, then add the can of peaches.
Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. The cake is done when a knife comes out clean.