Dutch Oven Cinnamon Honey Bread Pudding
Stale bread, powdered custard, and honey baked over coals at the end of a long day.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 12 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 500 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
- Breakfast
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| White sandwich bread | 8 slices | stale is better than fresh; day-three loaf is the point |
|---|---|---|
| Butter or ghee | 3 tbsp | ghee keeps for weeks without a cooler |
| Whole egg powder | 6 tbsp | stands in for 3 eggs |
| Whole milk powder | 1/2 cup | |
| Coconut milk powder | 3 tbsp | replaces the double cream |
| Honey | 1/4 cup | squeeze bottle, not a jar |
| Raisins or sultanas | 1/2 cup | |
| Ground cinnamon | 1 tsp | |
| Ground nutmeg | a pinch | |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | or a scraping of vanilla powder |
| Demerara sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- Build a fire early and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame.
- Butter the inside of a 10-inch dutch oven, then butter one side of every bread slice. Cut the slices in half on the diagonal.
- In a bottle or wide-mouth jar, shake the egg powder, milk powder, coconut milk powder, cinnamon, salt, and 500 ml of cold water until no lumps remain. Stir in the honey and vanilla.
- Shingle half the bread into the oven, butter side up. Scatter half the raisins. Repeat with the rest, keeping the top layer standing proud.
- Pour the custard over and press the bread down with a spoon. Give it ten minutes to drink it in.
- Scatter the demerara and nutmeg on top. Lid on, 8 coals underneath and 16 on the lid.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes. It is done when the center no longer sloshes and the top edges have gone dark. Rotate the oven and the lid a quarter turn every ten minutes so it does not scorch on one side.
Bread pudding at home leans on fresh eggs, milk, and cream, none of which survive a weekend in a car. Powdered whole egg and milk do the same job, and coconut milk powder covers the fat that double cream was supplying. The custard sets the same way; you just mix it in a bottle instead of a bowl.
Stale bread is not a compromise here, it is the requirement. Dry crumb pulls in liquid and holds its shape, where fresh bread turns to paste. Leave the top layer sticking up out of the custard so those edges dry and caramelize under the lid coals. That contrast between the crisp top and the soft middle is the whole reason to bother.
Coal count matters more than time. Too many underneath and the bottom burns before the center sets, which is why the heat is weighted two to one toward the lid.
Packing
Combine the two milk powders, egg powder, cinnamon, salt, and sugar in one zip bag at home. Raisins in another. Honey and ghee live in leakproof squeeze bottles inside a second bag, because both will find a way out.
Variations
- Swap the bread for leftover hot dog buns or a torn-up bagel. Any dry starch works.
- Half the raisins replaced with chopped dried apricot cuts the sweetness.
- No dutch oven: build it in a foil pan, cover tightly with foil, and set it on a grill grate over low coals for about the same time.
https://www.baldhiker.com/cinnamon-and-honey-bread-and-butter-pudding-recipe