Dutch Oven Lemon Cake
Box cake mix, citrus, and a coal-fired dutch oven. The car-camping dessert that looks like effort.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 93
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 120 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
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Box lemon cake mix | 1 box | any brand; note the water, oil, and egg it calls for |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable orange juice | 1/2 cup | single-serve carton, replaces half the water |
| Water | 1/2 cup | |
| Powdered egg | equivalent of the eggs on the box | reconstitute per the tin; real eggs work if you have a cooler |
| Vegetable oil | per the box | usually 1/3 cup |
| Lemon zest | 1 tbsp | dried zest travels; grate fresh at home and dry it |
| Powdered sugar | 1 cup | |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | the plastic squeeze lemon is fine |
| Butter | 2 tbsp | melted, for the glaze |
Method
- Build a fire early and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame. Start this an hour before you want cake.
- Mix the cake powder, zest, oil, reconstituted egg, water, and orange juice in a bowl or a gallon freezer bag until no dry pockets remain.
- Grease the dutch oven, line the bottom with parchment if you have it, and pour the batter in no deeper than an inch and a half.
- Lid on. Set the oven on a ring of about 8 coals and put 14 or 15 on the lid. Most of the heat comes from the top or the bottom scorches.
- Rotate the oven a quarter turn every 10 minutes, and the lid the opposite direction. Check at 30 minutes with a twig in the center.
- Pull it off the coals at 35 minutes and let it sit 20 minutes with the lid off.
- Stir the powdered sugar into the lemon juice and melted butter until it pours. Drizzle over the cake in the pot and cut it there.
The original was a pressure cooker cake, which is really just a steamed cake. Coals under a dutch oven do the same job by a different route, so the substitution holds: an enclosed pot, gentle heat, and a batter thin enough to set evenly. Orange juice in place of half the water is the one thing worth keeping from the source. It adds sugar and acid, which is why the crumb stays moist without the fridge the box assumes.
Coal placement is the whole recipe. Heavy on the lid, light underneath, or you get a burnt bottom and raw center. Powdered egg replaces the real thing so nothing has to survive a warm day, and the glaze is mixed at camp because it sets hard in a bottle.
Packing
Cake mix, dried zest, and powdered egg go in one bag. Powdered sugar in another. Oil, juice carton, and squeeze lemon ride upright in a bin. Parchment cut to the pot's diameter saves the scrubbing.
Variations
- No orange juice? Use all water and double the zest. It gets sharper, not worse.
- Skip the glaze and dust the top with powdered sugar shaken through a bandana.
- A 10-inch camp oven fits a double batch, but add 5 minutes and more coals on the lid.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/instant-pot-lemon-cake-shortcut-recipe