Coiled Phyllo Bake with Apricots and Strawberries
Rolled phyllo, dried fruit, and a vanilla custard poured over the top. Dutch oven dessert for a night you are not counting ounces.
- calories
- 460
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 102
- protein
- 9 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 350 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.
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Phyllo sheets | 8 sheets | thawed at home, carried flat in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 4 tbsp | melted; ghee holds up better in warm weather |
| Dried apricots | 1 cup | chopped |
| Freeze-dried strawberries | 1 cup | |
| Whole milk powder | 1/2 cup | |
| Powdered whole egg | 6 tbsp | equals 6 eggs |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Vanilla powder | 1 tsp | |
| Cornstarch | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | a pinch | |
| Water | 350 ml | cold |
Method
- Build a bed of coals or get a fire down to a steady low burn. You want moderate heat for a long time, not flame.
- Melt the butter in the dutch oven, then pour most of it into a cup and wipe the oven with what is left.
- Lay a phyllo sheet on a clean surface. Brush it with butter, scatter chopped apricots and strawberries down one long edge, and roll it into a loose rope. Gather the rope as you go so it wrinkles instead of lying flat.
- Coil the rope against the wall of the dutch oven. Repeat with the rest of the sheets, coiling each one against the last until the bottom is filled.
- Whisk the milk powder, egg powder, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, and salt into 350 ml of cold water until no lumps are left. Pour it evenly over the coil.
- Lid on. Set the oven on a ring of coals and pile more on the lid, roughly twice as many on top as underneath. Bake 35 to 40 minutes.
- It is done when the custard is set in the middle and the top of the coil has browned. Let it sit 10 minutes before cutting or it runs.
The original is a Romanian ruffled pie with fresh apricots, strawberries, and a sour cream custard. Neither the fruit nor the sour cream survives a weekend in a car, so both got swapped: dried apricots and freeze-dried strawberries, and a custard built from whole milk powder and powdered egg. The cornstarch is insurance. Powdered egg sets a little looser than fresh, and a spoonful of starch pulls it back together.
The wrinkled coil is the whole point of the technique. Rolling the phyllo loosely and bunching it leaves air pockets that the custard soaks into, so you get layers that are soft in the middle and crisp on top instead of one uniform slab. Coals on the lid do the browning; coals underneath will only scorch the bottom, which is why most of the heat goes up top.
Packing
Whisk the milk powder, egg powder, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, and salt together at home and carry the mix in one bag. Phyllo goes in the cooler, flat, under something rigid. Chopped fruit rides in a second bag.
Variations
- Swap the strawberries for freeze-dried raspberries or more apricots. Any dried fruit that is not too wet works.
- No phyllo? Flour tortillas cut into strips and rolled the same way give you a denser bake.
- Grate a little lemon zest into the sugar mix at home if you want the fruit to read sharper.
https://savoriurbane.com/placinta-creata-cu-caise-si-capsuni-cu-crema-de-smantana-cu-vanilie-soufra-cu-fructe