Dutch Oven Apple Slab
Dried apples, a biscuit-mix crust, and a lid full of coals.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 65 min
- water
- 600 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
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Dried apple slices | 5 cups | unsweetened rings, broken into pieces |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 3 cups | for the crust |
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Powdered buttermilk | 1/3 cup | the pliable-crust trick, no fridge needed |
| Shortening sticks | 3/4 cup | stays solid in a hot car, unlike butter |
| Light brown sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Granulated sugar | 1/4 cup | |
| Cornstarch | 2 tbsp | thickens the apple liquid |
| Cinnamon | 1 tbsp | plus 1/4 tsp each allspice and nutmeg |
| Citric acid or lemon powder | 1/2 tsp | stands in for lemon juice |
| Apple juice powder or cider drink mix | 1/4 cup | replaces boiled cider |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want a bed of them, not flames.
- Pour 600 ml of boiling water over the dried apples in a bowl or pot. Cover and leave them 20 minutes until they are soft and the water is cloudy.
- Cut the shortening into the flour, baking powder, salt, and powdered buttermilk with two forks until the lumps are pea-sized. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time, maybe 3/4 cup total, until it holds together. Do not knead it.
- Stir the sugars, cornstarch, spices, citric acid, and juice powder into the apples along with their soaking liquid.
- Press half the dough over the bottom and an inch up the sides of a 12-inch dutch oven. Add the apples. Tear the rest of the dough into flat pieces and lay them over the top with gaps for steam.
- Lid on. Roughly 8 coals under, 16 on top. Rotate the oven a quarter turn every ten minutes and the lid the other way.
- Bake 45 minutes. It is done when the top crust is browned and the filling bubbles up through the gaps.
- Pull the coals off the lid before you open it or you will get ash in dessert.
The original is a home kitchen pie: fresh apples, cold butter, liquid buttermilk. None of that survives a weekend in a car. Dried apples rehydrated in boiling water give you the same volume at a fraction of the weight, and their soaking liquid is already concentrated apple flavor, so it does the job the boiled cider was doing. Powdered buttermilk keeps the crust tender without a cooler, and shortening replaces butter because it does not go soft at ninety degrees in a trunk.
Cornstarch is what keeps the bottom crust from turning to paste. Rehydrated apples release a lot of water and it all has to go somewhere. Coal placement matters more than timing here: most of the heat belongs on the lid, or the bottom scorches long before the top browns.
Packing
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and buttermilk powder in one bag at home. Sugars, cornstarch, spices, citric acid, and juice powder go in a second, smaller bag. Dried apples in a third. Shortening travels in its own wrapper.
Variations
- Skip the bottom crust and it becomes a cobbler that bakes in 30 minutes.
- A handful of dried cranberries in with the apples cuts the sweetness.
- Chopped pecans in the top crust if nobody in camp has a nut allergy.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/apple-slab-pie-buttermilk-pastry