Blackberry Bourbon Camp Pastries
Hand pies with dried blackberry filling and a bourbon-spiked glaze, baked in a dutch oven at the fire.
- calories
- 480
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 180 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Refrigerated or shelf-stable pie crust rounds | 2 rounds | boxed crust keeps in a cooler; shelf-stable crust mix also works |
|---|---|---|
| Dried blackberries | 1 cup | or any dried wild berry |
| Water | 3/4 cup | for rehydrating the filling |
| Bourbon | 2 tbsp | swap in water if you skip it |
| Sugar | 1/3 cup | plus 1/4 cup for the icing |
| Cornstarch | 1 tbsp | thickens the filling |
| Lemon juice | 1 tbsp | bottled or a squeeze packet |
| Powdered sugar | 3/4 cup | for the icing |
| Shelf-stable cream cheese spread | 2 tbsp | the foil-tube kind, no cooler needed |
| Butter | 2 tbsp | softened, one for the icing and one for the pan |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want steady heat, not flame.
- Simmer the dried blackberries in 180 ml of water with the sugar, cornstarch, and bourbon over the coals until thick and jammy, about 10 minutes. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
- Cut each crust round into rectangles about 3 by 4 inches. You want ten pieces total, two per pastry.
- Spoon a tablespoon of filling onto five rectangles, leaving a clear border. Lay the other five on top and press the edges down with a fork.
- Butter the bottom of the dutch oven and lay the pastries in flat. Lid on, coals underneath and a heavier layer on the lid.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the oven and lid a quarter turn every 8 minutes so nothing scorches. Pull them when the tops are browned.
- Stir the powdered sugar, cream cheese, softened butter, and lemon juice into a thick icing. Spread it on once the pastries have cooled enough that it stops running off.
The source made these with fresh blackberries, which is fine in a kitchen in July and useless at a campsite. Dried berries simmered with sugar and cornstarch land in the same place: a thick filling that will not soak through the crust and run out the seams. Cornstarch matters more here than it does at home, because a dutch oven over coals runs hotter and less evenly than an oven, and thin filling boils out fast.
Cream cheese in the icing comes from a foil tube, not a tub, so the whole thing works without a cold box. Bourbon is optional and mostly cooks off anyway. The real skill is coal management: more on the lid than underneath, and a quarter turn every eight minutes, or the bottoms burn while the tops stay pale.
Packing
Mix the filling sugar and cornstarch at home in one bag, the powdered sugar in another. Dried berries in a third. Crust rounds stay flat in the cooler lid or in a rigid container so they do not crack.
Variations
- Leave the bourbon out and use the same amount of water. The pastries do not need it.
- Any dried fruit works: cherries, apricots chopped small, blueberries.
- No dutch oven means foil packets on a grate, four minutes a side, watched closely.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table/recipes/Homemade-blackberry-bourbon-adult-toaster-pastries