Dutch Oven Vanilla Cakes
Boxed-style cake batter mixed dry at home, baked in a dutch oven, frosted from powdered sugar and shortening.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 7, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 180 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
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Cake flour | 1 1/2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp | the smaller amount is for the frosting |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Powdered whole egg | 3 tbsp | stands in for 2 eggs and a yolk |
| Buttermilk powder | 3 tbsp | rehydrates with the water |
| Vegetable shortening | 1/3 cup for the batter, 1/2 cup for the frosting | shelf-stable, unlike butter |
| Vanilla extract | 3 tsp total | 2 tsp batter, 1 tsp frosting |
| Powdered sugar | 2 cups | |
| Powdered milk | 1 tsp plus 2 tsp water | replaces the splash of milk in the frosting |
| Cold water | about 3/4 cup |
Method
- Build a bed of coals. You want roughly 8 under the oven and 16 on the lid for a 12-inch, which lands near 350F.
- Beat the shortening and sugar together with a fork or spoon until the grit is gone. Five minutes of real work.
- Stir in the egg powder and 2 tsp vanilla, then add the premixed dry bag in thirds, alternating with 3/4 cup cold water. Stop as soon as it comes together.
- Grease the oven or set the batter in a foil pan inside it on three pebbles. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the oven and lid a quarter turn every 10 minutes.
- A twig comes out clean when it is done. Pull the lid coals off and let it cool fully before frosting or you get soup.
- For frosting, mash the second measure of shortening smooth, work in the powdered sugar a half cup at a time with the remaining vanilla and the pinch of salt, and thin with the milk powder slurry until it spreads.
This started as a kitchen recipe with a mixer, an oven dial, and three refrigerated ingredients. Butter, eggs, buttermilk, and milk all got replaced: shortening for butter, powdered egg and buttermilk powder in the dry mix, and a spoonful of powdered milk to loosen the frosting. Nothing here needs a cooler, and the dry side is measured at home so camp work is stirring and heat management.
The hard part is the fire, not the batter. Cake burns from below long before it sets on top, so keep two thirds of your coals on the lid and rotate both oven and lid so hot spots do not park in one place. Let it cool all the way down before frosting; shortening frosting slides straight off a warm cake.
Packing
Flour, leaveners, salt, sugar, egg powder, and buttermilk powder go in one zip bag at home. Powdered sugar, milk powder, and the frosting salt go in a second. Shortening travels in a screw-top jar and does not need a cooler.
Variations
- Skip the frosting and dust with cinnamon sugar. Faster, and nothing to mix at the fire.
- Cocoa powder swapped for 3 tbsp of the flour makes it chocolate.
- Bake it in a foil-lined pan and cut squares instead of stacking rounds.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/mini-cakes-with-buttercream-frosting