Coal-Baked Peach Cobbler
Syrup thickened in the pot, biscuit dough dropped on top, twenty minutes under coals.
- calories
- 380
- weight
- 6.8 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 660 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
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Baking mix | 2 cups | Bisquick or equivalent, premixed at home with the topping sugar |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar for the dough | 2/3 cup | |
| Sugar for the syrup | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Cornstarch | 4 tbsp | |
| Cinnamon | 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1/4 tsp | |
| Canned sliced peaches | two 15 oz cans | drained; fresh peaches if you have them, peeled and sliced |
| Water | about 2 3/4 cups total |
Method
- Start 25 to 30 briquettes in a fire pan. Wait until they are grey through, roughly twenty minutes.
- Put the syrup bag, the cornstarch, cinnamon, and ginger, into the dutch oven with 2 cups of water. Set it over the coals and bring it up, stirring, until the sugar is gone and the liquid runs thick off the spoon.
- Add the peaches. Bring it back to a boil.
- Stir the dough bag with about 3/4 cup of water until it is sticky and holds together. Do not knead it.
- Drop the dough over the fruit in rough spoonfuls. Leave gaps.
- Lid on. Move the oven onto 5 or 6 coals and pile 15 on the lid. Twenty minutes, no lifting.
- Blow the ash off before you open the lid. The topping should be dry on top and set underneath.
Most camp cobblers are a cake mix dumped over pie filling and left to sort itself out. This one builds the syrup first, which is the part worth doing. The cornstarch cooks out over direct heat and gives you a thick base instead of fruit sitting in sugar water, so the dough bakes on top of something solid rather than sinking.
Coal placement is the whole game. Most of the heat goes on the lid, because the topping needs to bake from above while the bottom only needs to stay hot. Too many coals underneath and the syrup scorches before the dough sets. The two premixed bags mean the only measuring in camp is water, and that one is by feel.
Canned peaches replace fresh here, and the butter and whipped topping other versions call for are gone. Neither survives a warm crate, and the cobbler does not need them.
Packing
Two bags at home. Bag one is the baking mix and its 2/3 cup sugar. Bag two is the syrup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and ginger. Cans travel in the bottom of the crate.
Variations
- Canned apricots or fruit cocktail work the same way. Drain them well or the syrup stays thin.
- A can of drained pineapple chunks stirred in with the peaches cuts the sweetness.
- Two tablespoons of honey in the syrup gives it a rounder edge.
https://oregonriverrunners.org/recipies-desserts.php