Orange Butter Camp Crepes
Thin skillet pancakes folded over a sweet orange butter. A car-camping dessert that takes one pan and no fridge.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 3 oz
- cal / oz
- 110
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 240 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2/3 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 1/4 cup | reconstitutes into the batter, no cooler needed |
| Powdered whole egg | 3 tbsp | stands in for 2 large eggs |
| Sugar | 6 tbsp | 1 tbsp for the batter, 5 for the butter |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Butter | 9 tbsp | 4 melted for the pan and batter, 5 softened for the orange butter |
| Dried orange peel | 2 tbsp | or zest one orange at home and dry it |
| Orange juice | 2 tbsp | a single-serve juice box or reconstituted crystals |
| Water | 1 cup |
Method
- At camp, whisk the flour, milk powder, egg powder, 1 tbsp sugar, and salt with 1 cup of cold water until no lumps remain. Let it sit ten minutes while the fire settles.
- Mash the softened butter with the remaining 5 tbsp sugar, the dried peel, and the orange juice. Set it somewhere shaded.
- Melt 4 tbsp of butter. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium coals for about five minutes, then brush the surface with melted butter.
- Pour in a scant 1/3 cup of batter and tilt the pan until it runs thin to the edges. Cook one to two minutes, flip, and give it another minute.
- Stack the finished crepes on a plate and keep brushing butter between rounds. The batter makes seven or eight.
- Spread a teaspoon of orange butter over each crepe, fold it into quarters, and return them to the warm pan for a minute so the butter melts through.
The original is a tableside flambé with fresh eggs, whole milk, and liqueur set alight. None of that travels. Powdered egg and powdered milk rebuild the batter with no cooler and no cracked shells in a pack, and the resting time matters more than it does at home because the powders need a few minutes to hydrate before the batter will spread thin.
Crepes fail on pan temperature, not on batter. Cook them over coals rather than open flame and give the cast iron a full five minutes to even out, otherwise the center sets before the edges do and the flip tears. The orange butter is doing the work of the flambé: sugar, fat, and dried peel melting into a hot crepe gets most of the way there without the alcohol.
Packing
Flour, milk powder, egg powder, sugar, and salt go in one bag at home. Peel and the butter sugar ride separately. Butter keeps a few days out of the cooler if it stays shaded and wrapped.
Variations
- Skip the folding and roll them around a spoonful of jam.
- A splash of Grand Marnier or brandy poured over the folded crepes off the heat carries the original flavor without setting anything on fire.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/crepes-suzette