Dutch Oven Chocolate Cherry Cobbler
Cake mix, canned cherries, butter. No mixing bowl, no measuring, one pot of coals.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- 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
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Cherry pie filling | 2 cans (21 oz each) | |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate cake mix | 1 box (15.25 oz) | dry, straight from the box |
| Butter | 1 1/2 sticks | melted; stays solid enough to travel in cool weather |
Method
- Line a 12-inch Dutch oven with parchment or heavy foil. This is the difference between rinsing a pot and scrubbing one.
- Empty both cans of cherry filling into the bottom and spread it flat.
- Shake the dry cake mix over the fruit in an even layer and press it down lightly. Do not stir. The dry layer is the whole point.
- Melt the butter and pour it over the surface, working in a spiral so most of the powder gets wet. Any patch you miss stays chalky.
- Lid on. Set the oven over about 8 coals underneath and ring 16 or so around the lid rim. That is roughly 350F for a 12-inch.
- Bake 50 minutes. Rotate the oven a third turn every 15 minutes and the lid the other way, or one side burns.
- Done when the edges bubble and the top has set into a crust. Scoop straight from the pot.
This is a dump cobbler, which means the cake mix never gets mixed. Left dry on top of the fruit, the bottom of that layer hydrates from the steam coming off the cherries while the top stays powdery and takes the butter. You end up with three textures out of three ingredients: syrupy fruit, wet cake in the middle, crisp crust on top. Stirring it destroys all of that and gives you a flat, gluey cake instead.
Heat management is the only real skill involved. Coals under the oven bake the fruit and coals on the lid brown the top, so you want roughly twice as many on top as below. Rotating the pot and lid in opposite directions keeps a hot spot in the fire from cooking one quadrant twice as fast as the rest. If the top browns early, pull coals off the lid and give it the rest of the time from below.
Packing
The cans are the heavy part, so this is a drive-in dessert only. Carry the butter in a small tub and let it come to camp temperature before you try to melt it. Bring parchment cut to the size of your oven at home.
Variations
- Swap in a yellow or white cake mix if you want the cherries to lead instead of the chocolate.
- A handful of chocolate chips over the cake mix before the butter goes on makes the crust denser.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped pecans over the top before baking if nuts are not an issue for your group.
https://campfirefoodie.com/dutch-oven-chocolate-cherry-cobbler-recipe