Home-Font: campfire Chocolate cake oranges

cooking examples (source unknown)

I like camping, mostly for the campfire cooking options. There's a certain magic to smoking woodfire and sizzling cast-iron leading to a picnic style al fresco dinner. I do a mean pot of chili and a spit-roasted ham is favorite. However for the sweeter-toothed amoungst us a dessert option presents a potential problem. There is a trick to getting foil -wrapped potatoes done evenly and not overly charcoaled, but if you can mange that, you might want to give this a try: Chocolate cake! Be the envy of all your neighbors and blow the "smores" people away.

It is possible to cook chocolate cake in cast-iron dutch oven, they have a habit of sticking and burning quite easily. A number of years ago I stumbled upon the idea of baking cake in the hollowed out shells of oranges. They are delicious and easy!

What you need: a sachet of instant chocolate cake mix (needn't be anything fancy)

cooking examples (source unknown)

components required for the cake mix (typically: eggs, oil)
aluminium foil (for wrapping)
bag of oranges (I prefer Valencia over naval)

1) cut the tops off the oranges, retain.
2) gut the oranges, Jack-o'lantern pumpkin style, retain.
3) remove extra pith bits from the pulp. Macerate pulp with a folk.
4) mix chocolate cake mix, substituting water/milk for macerated orange.
5) fill empty orange shells 3/4 with chocolate mix.
6) cap oranges with retained tops.

campfire cooked by the author

7) cover with foil

8) place in coals
9) let cook for 25-30 minutes, turn 2-3 times.

The rind and pith of the orange will protect the cake and steam it from the edges, whilst cooking the cake will "pop up" the cap, be careful not to rotate the cooking oranges so they open into the fire.

The end result should be a delightfully moist, orange skin oil infused chocolate cake in a warm cup you can hold in your hand and eat with a spoon! After stripping the foil away, the empty orange shell can just go into the fire.

Chocolate cake! That's nutrition

So, from very simple and quite portable ingredients you can make a delicious and uplifting dessert. Oranges keep well and are an excellent camping fruit, chocolate cake mix is light and packs easily. Thicker skinned and pith'd varieties work better for this method, as they act as sturdier and more ablative cook-pots.

You could also try cooking other things in orange cups, different cake, or a duck stew to finish off in oranges for a "duck a l'orange" type effect on the trail.