Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Campfire Cakes


I've been wanting to try these ever since I saw them last fall on Bread & Honey, and when I was assigned dessert for our camping trip last weekend, I knew what I would make. They were so much fun to put together, and it was also fun waiting/watching as they baked in the fire embers. They smelled AWESOME while in the fire. The end result was good- I mean, it was very moist yellow cake, just not knock-your-socks-off good. I substituted orange juice for most of the water in the cake, but the orange flavor didn't really come through. Adding a Tablespoon of zest would've helped, I'm sure, but I didn't feel like bringing the whole kitchen (zester) with me. I will definitely make them again for the fun factor. The original recipe instructs to leave them in the fire somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes- I would add "depending on the size of the orange you use". These were fairly large oranges and they needed between 15 and 20 min. You just have to keep checking.
I'll give you more of a technique than a recipe...

Campfire Cakes

12 oranges
1 yellow cake mix
eggs, oil or butter, and water/juice as box directs
lots of tin foil

Slice the tops of the oranges. With a fork and spoon, hollow out the juice and flesh (saving the juice if using), leaving the rind in tact, and set aside. Mix cake batter ingredients according to box directions. Fill each orange about 2/3 full with batter. Replace the top. Wrap well in tin foil. "Bake" in campfire embers until cake is set... anywhere between ten and twenty minutes. Keep checking one until batter has set up. Shoo the mosquitoes away, and enjoy your cake.
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