Baked Ross and Angie's Poppy seed cake up at Sourdough last weekend. Since there is a statewide fire restriction, including charcoal, I just did it in the 5th wheel oven. (Cast Iron Careth Not From Whence the Heat Cometh; me, 1996) I knew the oven would be way hot on the bottom so I used my diffusor plate from my Camp Chef Dutch oven cap. Worked great.
Everyone should try that cake, it is worth the effort.

Vickie and I took the train, Amtrak, to Colorado to see the Tracy clan. A train ride was on our bucket list. I took my favorite oven, the 12 inch breadmaker and carried it aboard the train as carry-on baggage in a 25th anniverary bag.Since we were staying at my cousin's B&B in Pine Springs, it seemed the perfect opportunity to cook for small groups while in Colorado. While there, I cooked three dishes; a bacon and cheese egg breakfast, a new bread pudding, and Vickie's famous BBQ chicken.
The guests were quite taken with the versitility of the black pot.
If you're ever near Estes, CO; stop at the Little Elk Meadows Lodge. The rooms are great and reasonably priced and the scenery is amazing. (Plus there are elk everywhere.)

Every Dutch oven cook has a favorite cobbler...Here is an easy topping for almost any cobbler.

Biscuit Topping for Cobblers

1 cup unbleached flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) melted butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Whisk the wet ingredients together in another bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.

Mix just until the dry ingredients are wet; don’t over mix.

Use a big serving spoon to place dollops of dough evenly on the fruit.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the biscuit topping is golden brown with 8-9 coals

under and 15-16 coals on the lid.

Cheers,

The Dutch Oven Baker

Buy a quality Dutch Oven

Which Dutch oven to buy? Buy quality…Camp Chef and Lodge are the best, period! My wife Vickie gave me a 12 inch Lodge for Father’s day many years ago. I seasoned it according to the directions that came with the oven and started cooking.

This oven is still my prime baking oven today. I have ovens from each company.

These days Dutch ovens arrive pre-seasoned. But even pre-seasoned ovens need a bit more seasoning.

As you begin your outdoor cooking adventure cook something greasy like a bacon-potato-cheese “something” dish a few times. Also, for the first few times you cook in your oven avoid high acid foods like tomatoes. As you do this your cast iron will begin to build a black carbon coating called the patina. A well seasoned oven can be as non-stick as a Teflon pan.

Cake notes:

·        Dutch oven cakes are essentially cold oven cakes, where you start with a cold oven and bake longer.

·        Novice cakes will usually use store bought cakes. Anyone can bake a cake in a Dutch oven with a store bought cake.

·        All cake recipes made from scratch with all purpose flour  use the same basic ratio of ingredients, measured by weight:

1 part flour (one cup is about 4-5 ounces), 1 part egg (1 large egg is 2 ounces), 1 part sugar (one cup is 8 ounces), and 1 part fat (one stick of butter is 4 ounces).

The ingredient lists for most cakes use the egg, which is 2 ounces, as a starting point for the weights of the other main ingredients because of course; you can’t cut an egg in half. For example 2 ounces flour (1/2 cup), 1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons), 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 egg is the starting ratio for cake. After you master this idea, the sky’s the limit.

·        Always read the entire recipe, top to bottom, before you start mixing anything, this will save you loads of time. Always try to have the ingredients at room temperature. If you forget to take the eggs out of the refrigerator, put them in a small bowl of hot water for 2 minutes.

·        Gather all of the ingredients and equipment and place it on your counter before you start. If you don’t you will invariably forget something and waste time fetching it.

·        If you want a richer, denser cake cream the butter and sugar and then the eggs and flour. If you want a lighter sponge type cake mix the eggs and sugar first, then the butter and then the flour.

·        Dust raisins and other dried fruit in flour before you add to the batter to help prevent sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking.

·        Cakes are done when they shrink slightly from the edge of the Dutch oven.

Cakes are done when a big toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out dry.

Cakes are done when you touch it with your finger and it springs back,

·        Under bake chocolate cakes a bit as chocolate hardens when it heats.

·        When measuring sticky stuff like molasses, honey, or syrups rinse measuring cups in warm water and they won’t stick.

·        If you happen to run out of powdered sugar take 1 cup regular sugar and 1 tablespoon corn starch, put in a food processor and run at medium speed for 2 minutes.

·        Quick bread ratios:

·        All quick breads use this basic ratio by weight; 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, and 1 part fat. (See above for common weights) Almost everything else for cakes works here. The batter will be thicker.

·        Pie note:

·        When you make pie crust, make sure everything, including the equipment, is cold!

·        Once you get the pie crust ready you can add almost any fruit concoction imaginable.

Made some cinnamon rolls yesterday...Put too much milk in the glaze and ran out of powdered sugar. It dribbled down inside of each roll. Vickie and I like them better that way. I think the idea/mistake is a keeper.

Manuscript Submitted

The Dutch oven baking cookbook manuscript went to the publisher Friday.
Here is one of the recipes anyone can bake...

Cherry Swirl

12 inch oven

Ingredients:

8 ounces warm butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 15 ounce can pie cherries, drained (not cherry pie filling)

Directions:

Combine all the above ingredients except the cherries. Oil a 12 inch oven and add 1/2 of the batter. Evenly pour the pie cherries on top; then carefully pour the remaining batter on top of the cherries. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes with 15-16 coals on top and 8 coals under. Check with a table knife at 30 minutes. Drizzle powdered sugar frosting on top while it’s still warm.

Frosting:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Serves 10-12

Let me know if you tried it and if you liked it.
Cheers,


Bruce
One recipe per week...
Let me know if you have a favorite cake or pie or cornbread or banana bread or raised bread. I'll put it up.