Easy Black Berry Cobbler
This has been a smash hit on many a paddling adventure. You can substitue Black Berries for any in season berry you can get your hands on. I personanly prefer fresh berries over the canned pie filling. It also utilizes one of my favorite pieces of cookware, the 10" GSI Hard Anodized Aluminimum Dutch Oven.
The primary advantage that you will enjoy when using aluminum Dutch ovens comes from the fact that aluminum is significantly lighter then iron. The weight of an aluminum Dutch oven will be about 35% less then its similarly sized cast iron cousin. Aluminum is also a very efficient conductor of heat. The heat conduction properties of aluminum can be good and bad when Dutch oven cooking. The good is that one needs to use less fuel when cooking with aluminum. The bad is that while it heats quicker then cast iron, it also looses its heat much more quickly. This can present a challenge when cooking in cold or windy conditions. You will also find that aluminum Dutch ovens are more prone to developing hot spots during cooking. Unlike cast iron, aluminum does not rust. The Hard Anondized version is very strong, wont sratch easily and has a nearly non stick surface.
You can pack in a small sack of 30 charcoal briquettes with you or you can use wood found on the ground. If you use wood you want to gather pieces that are similar in size. I try to collect sticks that are about the size of my wrist and will break them into lengths of about 12-14" by smacking the longer stick over the pointed edge of a large rock. I find that these will make an excellent bed of coals to place the dutch oven over. Using wood is tricky so I would recommend Charcoal Briquettes for your first time. The 10" dutch oven does not have legs on the bottom of but it does come with a wire stand to sit on to keep the bottom of the dutch oven from resting directly on the coals. As a rule of thumb to achieve 325 degrees use the following method. Take the size of the oven and take that number of briquettes less three for the bottom and that number plus three for the top. For example with 12" oven you would place 9 briquettes on the bottom (12-3) and 15 briquettes on the top (12+3). This works for Lodge® Dutch ovens and GSI Aluminum ovens. Adding one set of briquettes (one on top and one on bottom) will raise the temperature of the Dutch Oven approximately 25 degrees. Or conversely removing one set of briquettes will lower the temperature by 25 degrees.
In addition to the dutch oven and stand you will also need the lid lifter that comes with the dutch oven and small natural fiber whisk broom is nice to have to brush the coal ash off the lid before removing it. It really sucks to sprinkle your delicous cobbler with hot ash.
I like to start cooking this dessert before I start dinner so it is done and has enough time to cool.
What you need
- Dutch Oven with stand, lid hook and broom
- 20-25 Match start Briquets 7 for the bottom and 13 for the top. Shooting for a baking temperature of 350 degrees.
- Firestarters or paper
Ingredients
- 1 Box of Yellow or White Cake Mix
- 2 Cups Fresh Black Berries
- 1 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1tsp of Cinnamon
- 1 Lemon
- 1 Stick of Butter
Preparation
- Place the coals in a pile protected from wind and light them allowing them to burn until they start to turn grey
- Arrange 7 coals in a circle about the same size as the dutch oven and the stand in the middle and tehn place the oven on top of the stand
- Belt enough butter into the bottom of the pan to cover
- Add the Berries, Sugar, Cinnamon, and Juice from the lemon and mix together
- Pour the box of cake batter over the berries and slice pads of the remaining butter and place on top of the cake batter.
- Cover and bake for 45-60 minutes until the batter turn golden and you cant resist the smell any longer!
Tags: Dutch Oven