Dutch Oven Cake

So my parents got into camping and bought a camper a few years ago.  The one thing my dad seems to enjoy most about camping is outdoor Dutch oven cooking.  He enjoys it so much that he frequently uses his cast iron Dutch oven to cook even when not camping.

It’s really a neat concept.  I’ve read several recipes for outdoor Dutch oven cooking and I think a more appropriate name might be “cowboy cooking”.  Although I don’t see many cowboys whipping up a cake out on the range.  Unlike what I initially thought, you don’t place the pot in or over a fire but instead sit it atop hot coals and top the lid with more hot coals.  A typical outdoor recipe will call for a specific number of hot coals to create the desired temperature at which to bake.  The hot coals are then placed under the pot and on the lid. 

When we stopped in for an early Memorial Day dinner with them recently, I wasn’t surprised that he was making dessert outside in his big black cast iron pot-a Black Forest Cake.  And yes, it was just like a black forest cake from the oven.

Since it was a new recipe, he and my mom were both concerned whether or not the recipe would come out ok.  By the time it was done, we were all on pins and needles worried about this monstrosity of a cake.  Of course I had a plan for them if it didn’t bake up just right.  We’d just dump it in a bowl and layer the frosting and cherries over it and have a Black Forest Trifle.  I’ve saved many recipes that have gone awry by dumping them in a bowl and calling them trifle!  And all the makings of a delicious one were in place here- fudge cake with a cream cheese layer baked in, chocolate frosting and cherry pie filling. 

We brought the monstrous pot inside to bake for 10 last minutes in the oven as the coals had cooled off and it still wasn’t quite done.  After letting it cool a few, we dumped it out and held our breath.  It was a huge cake (reminiscent of my Thanksgiving Cherdumple)  and I wasn’t quite sure it would support its own weight.  But it did!  So after cooling we (well rather, I)frosted it and dumped on the cherries.  I’m not sure how I got the job of frosting but I didn’t mind.  Whoever frosts gets to lick the spoon when they’re done.  So it’s not a job without perks! 

After all that, we sliced into it and enjoyed the delicious fruit of our labor!  It had baked up just perfect with a wonderful ribbon of cream cheese baked inside.  The frosting and cherries were, well, just the icing on the cake!