Camp Strawberry Shortcake
Drop biscuits in a dutch oven, dried strawberries rehydrated into syrup, and whipped topping from powder.
- calories
- 480
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 107
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 300 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.
- Dessert
- 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 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1/2 cup, plus 3 tbsp for the fruit | |
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/3 cup | replaces the 2/3 cup fresh milk |
| Shortening or butter powder | 1/2 cup shortening | shortening keeps at ambient temp; butter would need a cooler |
| Vanilla extract | 1 1/4 tsp total | carry in a small dropper bottle |
| Freeze-dried or dried strawberries | 3 oz | about two pounds fresh, dried down |
| Citric acid or lemon powder | 1/4 tsp | stands in for the lemon juice |
| Powdered heavy cream or dry whipped topping mix | 1 cup heavy cream equivalent | whisks up with cold water |
| Powdered sugar | 1/4 cup |
Method
- Pour 200 ml of boiled water over the dried strawberries with 3 tbsp sugar and the citric acid. Cover and leave 20 minutes. They will give up a thin syrup.
- Whisk the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk powder in the dutch oven lid or a bowl.
- Cut the shortening in with a fork or your fingers until the mix looks like coarse gravel. Small lumps are what makes it flaky.
- Add about 150 ml of cold water and 1/4 tsp vanilla. Stir just until it holds together. Overworking it makes hockey pucks.
- Drop eight rough spoonfuls into the greased dutch oven. Lid on, then coals: roughly 8 on the bottom, 16 on top, for 15 to 20 minutes until the tops are dry and set.
- Whisk the cream powder, powdered sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla with cold water per the package ratio until it thickens. Cold water only, or it stays soup.
- Split a biscuit, spoon strawberries and their syrup over, and top with the cream.
The original is a fridge recipe: cold butter, whole milk, an egg, two pounds of fresh berries, and a bowl of whipped cream. None of that survives a weekend in a car. Shortening replaces the butter because it holds its shape at ambient temperature and still cuts into the flour the same way. Milk powder and water replace the milk, the egg comes out entirely (drop biscuits do not need it), and dried strawberries plus boiling water and sugar rebuild the macerated fruit in twenty minutes.
The cut-in fat is the whole technique. Lumps of solid shortening melt in the heat and leave layers behind, so do the cutting at home while your hands are clean and the fat is cold, then bag it and keep it out of the sun. The whipped cream only works with cold water; warm water will not let the fat set up and you get a glaze instead of a topping.
Packing
Two bags: dry biscuit mix with the shortening already cut in and frozen at home, and dried strawberries with their sugar and citric acid. Cream powder and powdered sugar go in a third small bag so nothing gets damp.
Variations
- No dutch oven: fry the dough as flat cakes in a greased skillet over the fire, five minutes a side.
- Swap half the strawberries for dried blueberries if that is what the store had.
- Skip the cream entirely and eat the biscuits with the syrup. Fewer things to carry.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/sweet-biscuit-strawberry-shortcake