Dutch Oven Cobbler

Ted Morris and Patrice Yazdanyar

Rating: ***

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup evaporated milk

3/4 cup water

4 cups sweetened canned fruit, with juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a 12-inch Dutch oven over low heat. Mix sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in milk and water gradually, mixing just until moistened. Pour into Dutch oven. Pour fruit over top. Cover with a lid, place coals on top, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until batter is lightly browned on top. Check to make sure that batter is fully cooked through. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and then serve warm.

The cobbler turned out great! One thing that we eliminated from the recipe was the canned fruit and juice. Instead, we used frozen fruit, which were mixed berries. We let the fruit thaw during the day, and consequently there would be juice from it as well.

With our experience, the recipe called for too much butter. After about 40 minutes in the dutch oven, there was still some melted butter at the top and in the middle of the cobbler, which caused the cake in the middle to be softer. We would recommend only using 3/4 cup of butter.

The cake was also softer in the middle because the heat was generated more through the perimeter of the dutch oven. If the coals we more centred then you could get more heat generated there to cook it all the way through.

The directions state to check after 30-40 minutes. We just wanted to be careful that it didn't burn so we checked it after 30 minutes. But, with 6 coals on the bottom and 16 on top, we recommend to only check after 40 minutes because it still might need to cook more after that amount of time.

In the picture of the cobbler on the recipe's internet page, it appeared that the fruit had sunk to the bottom of the cobbler while it was baking. We didn't experience the fruit sinking. We are not sure if it is because we used frozen instead of canned fruit, but don't take any chances on pouring the fruit in before the batter.

The cobbler was still enjoyed by the class and would be a scrumptious dessert on a camping trip.



American Chuck Wagon Association. Dutch Oven Cobbler. Food Network. Retrieved from:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dutch-oven-cobbler-recipe.html