Blackberry Buttermilk Skillet Muffin Cake
One cast iron pan, powdered buttermilk, and dried berries. A camp bake that behaves like a jumbo muffin.
- calories
- 470
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 104
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 300 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All purpose flour | 2 1/2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Granulated sugar | 3/4 cup | |
| Baking powder | 2 tsp | |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cinnamon | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Powdered buttermilk | 1/2 cup | replaces 1 1/4 cups liquid buttermilk; no cooler needed |
| Powdered whole egg | 3 tbsp | stands in for 2 eggs |
| Vegetable oil | 1/2 cup | all the fat, since butter melts in a hot pack |
| Vanilla extract | 2 tsp | |
| Dried blackberries | 1 cup | freeze-dried work, but crush them less |
| Turbinado sugar | 2 tbsp | for the top |
| Water | about 1 1/4 cups |
Method
- Get a bed of coals going, or set the stove low. You want steady, moderate heat, not flame.
- Put the dried blackberries in a cup with 1/4 cup of the water and let them sit while you do everything else.
- Dump the premixed dry bag into the pot and make a well in the middle.
- Add the oil, vanilla, and about 1 cup of water. Stir until it just comes together and still looks lumpy. Overmixing makes it tough.
- Fold in the soaked berries and any water left in the cup.
- Oil the bottom of a 10-inch dutch oven or deep skillet, scrape the batter in, and scatter the turbinado over the top.
- Lid on. Roughly a third of your coals underneath, two thirds on the lid. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.
- Check at 25 with a twig or knife in the center. It should come out clean. Pull the bottom coals first if the underside is browning fast.
The original is a jumbo muffin recipe built on fresh berries, whole milk buttermilk, and eggs out of a fridge. None of that survives two days in a pack. Powdered buttermilk and powdered egg do the same chemical work: the buttermilk keeps the batter acidic so the baking soda has something to react with, and the egg powder binds it once water goes in. Butter got dropped entirely in favor of oil, which does not need to be kept cold and does not need melting.
Dried berries need the soak. Thrown in dry they pull water out of the crumb and leave hard flecks. Ten minutes in a splash of water is enough to soften them without turning them to jam. Coals mostly on the lid is the other thing that matters — bottom heat alone will scorch the base long before the middle sets.
Packing
Flour, both sugars, leavening, cinnamon, salt, buttermilk powder, and egg powder all go in one gallon bag at home. Berries in their own bag so they do not pull moisture from the flour. Oil and vanilla in small bottles.
Variations
- Skip the dutch oven and cook it as thick pancakes in a greased skillet, four minutes a side.
- Dried cherries or cranberries if blackberries are not around.
- A handful of chocolate chips folded in at the end turns it into dessert.
https://realtree.com/recipe/timber-2-table/jumbo-blackberry-buttermilk-muffins