Dutch Oven Maple Custard with Cranberries
A maple custard baked over coals in a Dutch oven, with a cornmeal crumb bottom instead of a rolled crust.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 3.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 134
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 8
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total time
- 70 min
- water
- 420 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
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 1 cup | 3/4 cup for the crust, 2 tbsp for the custard, rest for dusting |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow cornmeal | 1/2 cup | 2 tbsp goes in the custard, the rest in the crust |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Ghee | 9 tbsp | clarified butter, no refrigeration |
| Dark brown sugar | 1/3 cup | |
| Whole egg powder | 6 tbsp | stands in for 5 eggs |
| Heavy cream powder | 3/4 cup | or whole milk powder plus an extra tbsp ghee |
| Buttermilk powder | 1/3 cup | replaces the sour cream tang |
| Maple syrup | 3/4 cup | decant into a leakproof bottle |
| Vanilla extract | 2 tsp | |
| Citric acid | 1/4 tsp | stands in for the lemon juice |
| Dried cranberries | 1/2 cup | |
| Granulated sugar | 2 tbsp | for dusting the cranberries |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals well before you start. You want a bed you can spread, not flames.
- Crust: rub 3 tbsp ghee into 3/4 cup flour, 6 tbsp cornmeal, and 1/2 tsp salt until it clumps. Press it flat into the bottom of a 10 inch Dutch oven and 1/2 inch up the sides.
- Set the oven over about 8 coals with 14 on the lid. Bake 12 minutes, until the crust smells toasted and has set. Pull the lid coals and let it cool while you mix.
- Custard: in a pot or large bag, whisk the brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp cornmeal, and 1/2 tsp salt. Add 6 tbsp melted ghee and whisk smooth.
- Whisk the egg powder, cream powder, and buttermilk powder into 420 ml of cold water in a separate container until no lumps remain. Give it five minutes to hydrate, then whisk again.
- Stir the maple syrup, vanilla, and citric acid into the sugar base, then pour in the hydrated dairy and eggs. Whisk until it is one smooth liquid.
- Pour the custard over the crust. Scatter the cranberries across the top; they will sink partway and rehydrate in the custard.
- Bake with 7 coals under and 16 on the lid for 40 to 50 minutes. Rotate the oven a quarter turn every 10 minutes and the lid the other way. It is done when the outer two inches are set and the center still moves as one piece.
- Take it fully off the heat, lid off, and give it 30 minutes. It firms up as it cools. Dust with granulated sugar before cutting.
The original is an oven pie with sour cream, heavy cream, and five fresh eggs, none of which survive a weekend in a car. Powdered egg, cream, and buttermilk rebuild the same custard from bags, and citric acid does what the lemon juice was there for: cut the maple and keep the dairy from tasting flat. Ghee replaces the melted butter because it does not need a cooler.
The crust is pressed rather than rolled. Rolling out dough on a picnic table is a losing project, and a cornmeal crumb base pressed straight into the Dutch oven bakes to the same purpose. Coal placement is the part that actually decides whether this works: most of the heat belongs on the lid. Too many coals underneath and the bottom scorches before the center of the custard sets.
Packing
Two bags: crust dry mix in one, custard dry mix in the other, both labeled with their water amount. Ghee in a screw-top jar, maple syrup in a bottle inside a second bag. Cranberries and sugar can share a small bag.
Variations
- Skip the crust entirely and bake the custard alone in a greased Dutch oven for a looser spoon dessert.
- Half a teaspoon of cinnamon in the crust mix carries well over the maple.
- Leftover custard mix bakes fine in foil cups set on the coals for about 20 minutes.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/maple-custard-pie-with-sugared-cranberries