Skillet Bread Pudding with Strawberries
Custard from powder, bread from the bottom of the food bag, cooked in cast iron over coals.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 86
- protein
- 13 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 70 min
- water
- 400 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.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Sourdough or other sturdy bread | 1 lb | cubed, crusts off; stale is better than fresh |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole eggs | 6 eggs worth, about 6 tbsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/2 cup | stands in for the milk and half-and-half |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tbsp | or 1 tsp vanilla powder in the dry mix |
| Freeze-dried strawberries | 2 cups | about a 1.5 oz bag |
| Butter or ghee | 1 tbsp | ghee keeps without a cooler |
| Coarse sugar | 1 tbsp | for the top |
| Maple syrup | to serve |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals well before you want to eat. You need heat that holds, not flames.
- Whisk the egg powder, milk powder, sugar, and vanilla into 400 ml of cold water until no lumps float. Stir in the strawberries and let them sit two minutes to drink.
- Add the bread cubes, press them under, and leave it 20 minutes. Stale bread wants the full time.
- Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet or dutch oven with the butter. Scrape everything in, level it, and scatter the coarse sugar over the top.
- Cover with a lid or foil. Set it on a bed of coals and shovel more coals onto the lid. Aim for about twice as many on top as underneath.
- Give it 40 to 45 minutes. It is done when the center stops jiggling as a liquid and a knife comes out clean.
- Pull it off the heat, let it sit 10 minutes so it sets, then spoon it out with syrup.
The original was a refrigerator recipe: fresh eggs, milk, half-and-half, yogurt, and a four-hour cold soak. None of that travels. Powdered eggs and whole milk powder rebuild the custard from a dry bag, and freeze-dried strawberries deliver the fruit without the water weight or the mush. The soak drops from four hours to twenty minutes because stale bread absorbs faster than fresh, and because nobody is starting breakfast at 4 a.m.
Coals, not flames, are the whole game. A custard set over direct fire scorches on the bottom and stays raw in the middle. Bank the coals underneath, pile more on the lid, and the skillet bakes instead of fries. The rest time at the end is not optional either — pull it early and you are serving sweet soup.
Packing
Egg powder, milk powder, sugar, and vanilla powder go into one bag at home. Bread rides in a separate bag or it gets crushed into crumbs. Strawberries stay in their sealed pouch until camp.
Variations
- Freeze-dried blueberries or a handful of raisins work the same way.
- A teaspoon of cinnamon in the dry mix if you want it closer to French toast.
- No dutch oven: cover the skillet with foil and cook it low over a grill grate, checking every ten minutes.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/strawberries-cream-skillet-bread-pudding