Dutch Oven Cream Cheese Custard
A cream cheese custard baked over coals in a dutch oven, topped with whatever fruit survived the drive.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 78
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 8
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 65 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Full-fat cream cheese | 16 oz | let it come to camp temperature before mixing or it stays lumpy |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Vanilla extract | 2 tsp | |
| Eggs | 4 | carried in a hard egg case |
| Graham cracker crumbs | 1 1/2 cups | crushed at home |
| Butter | 5 tbsp | melted at camp |
| Fruit | 2 cups | berries, sliced kiwi, or a drained can of peaches |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals, or light about 24 charcoal briquettes and let them ash over. You want steady low heat, not flame.
- Melt the butter in the dutch oven, then pull it off the heat and stir in the graham crumbs. Press the mixture up the bottom and an inch of the sides with the back of a spoon.
- In a bowl, work the cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until no lumps are left. This takes real effort by hand. Keep going.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing each one in fully before the next. Pour the filling over the crust and level it.
- Set the oven on 8 coals and put 16 on the lid. Bake 45 minutes. The edge should be set and the middle should still move slightly when you nudge the oven.
- Pull all the coals, lift the lid off, and let it cool at least an hour. It firms up as it drops in temperature.
- Spoon fruit over the top and cut it in the oven.
This is car-camping food, not backpacking food. Cream cheese and eggs need a cooler and there is no shelf-stable substitute that sets the same way, so it stays a trailhead dessert. What travels well is the crust: crush the grahams at home and it becomes one jar and one stick of butter.
The coal ratio matters more than the timing. Two thirds of the heat goes on the lid so the custard sets from above instead of scorching against the bottom. Pull it while the center still wobbles. Custard finishes cooking on residual heat, and an overbaked one cracks and weeps.
Packing
Crush the graham crackers and premeasure the sugar and vanilla into a jar at home. Cream cheese, butter, and eggs ride in the cooler on ice. Bring a bowl and a sturdy spoon; this is not a one-pot recipe.
Variations
- Skip the fruit and eat it plain. The custard stands up on its own.
- Stir a spoonful of instant coffee into the filling for a darker version.
- A drizzle of jam thinned with a splash of water works when fresh fruit is gone by day three.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/cream-cheese-custard-pie-with-fruit-topping