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opnspaces's avatar
opnspaces
Navigator II
Nov 11, 2013

Dutch oven peach cobbler

Well I'm sure you all groaned when you read the title of this post. I mean come on, really, this is the recipe that you receive with almost any new dutch oven. But up until recently I've never tried it. So here's my first two attempts.

Here's the recipe I used and I tried to double it in my 10 inch DO.
Link


The first time I tried I wound up with a gray (at least by lantern light) peach juice cake mix gravy mixed with lumpy chunks of peaches.

It was really kind of comical to watch the kids come running up to the pot as the lid came off. Their big expectant smiles and sparkling eyes just melted away faster than a pat of warm butter in a hot skillet. :)

Of course we're talking peach juice, cake mix, and butter. It took some cajoling and some prodding, and maybe a few well placed "Dad" glares to convince them to try a teensy tiny drop on a spoon. But once this was accomplished the area around me turned into a free for all that reminded me of a scene from a piranha movie. :B

The next time I tried was last night in the back yard. I figured it wasn't hot enough the first time so I added one additional coal under the pot. I also drained half of the juice off. After 40 minutes the cake mix was looking done but there was juice bubbling up on the sides so I left it for another 10 minutes. and then another 10 minutes. I finally pulled it off as I figured I didn't want it to dry our and start burning.

It was moist and the cake mix firm and a bit moist with some big chunks of gooey cake mix. Overall it was tasty and gave me a stomach ache from eating too much. :B But, I'm not sure if this is how it's supposed to be. So I'm wondering, should the cake part be smoother or more uniform? Should I stir in the peach juice before cooking? Is this how it's supposed to be? Can/should I flip it over when done like a pineapple upside down cake?

Thanks
  • YC_1's avatar
    YC_1
    Nomad
    Nov 12, 2013
    Spice cake is fantastic. Layer of peaches, 1 box of spice cake. Do not mix per directions on box. Just sprinkle it on top of the peaches. Lots of butter pats, lots of cinnamon. Another layer of peaches, then mix one box of the spice cake per directions. Put that on top. Takes about an hour to cook.

    Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
  • wbwood's avatar
    wbwood
    Explorer
    Nov 12, 2013
    We did about the same as the recipe from the link but we greased the dutch oven with part of the stick of butter and then cut the rest into the pats. We also used 2 regular size cans of peaches.

    Here's how we did it.

    - Grease dutch oven with part of stick of butter.
    - Open two regualr size cans of peaches and pour into dutch oven.
    - Take the cake mix and pour on top of the peaches. Try to distribute it evenly, but do not mix it in with the peach juice.
    - sprinkle some cinnamon across the top of the cake mix
    - cut up pats of butter and place on top of the cake mix.
    - cook at 350 degrees with the proper number of briquettes for the top and bottom of your dutch oven. Done in about 45 minutes or so.

    We did not preheat the dutch oven. Also you will need to replace briquettes as needed and make sure you rotate the DO a quarter turn one way and the lid a quarter turn the opposite way every 15 minutes for even cooking.

    It's really simple and comes out great every time we do it. We do ours in a 12" DO and there is enough for a good bit of people. For the 3 of us, we usually try to put some away for the next day. When there was about 10 or so us, it was plenty enough.
  • tplife's avatar
    tplife
    Explorer
    Nov 12, 2013
    Thanks for the post, as a HardCore tent camper and new owner of a once-used 10.25" DO, I'm looking for an experience to haul all that scrap iron along on my next Desert Do.

  • opnspaces's avatar
    opnspaces
    Navigator II
    Nov 12, 2013
    OK, OK, YES I PEEKED!!!!:E Probably more than one time too. :S There was probably a bit of wind also. I just can't stand it and have to look from time to time. :B But next time I'll keep my grubby paws off the lid except to turn it a bit.

    Is a Jiffy yellow cake mix enough powder? I just bought a regular size cake box. Also can I use other cake like maybe spice cake or chocolate cake? What other canned fruits are there that I can try that won't eat the lining off the oven?

    Thanks for all the input.
  • SWMO's avatar
    SWMO
    Explorer
    Nov 11, 2013
    I can't count the number of cobblers I've made in my 10" and 8" DO's.
    My recipe is simple. I large can of peach's, or a pie filling of your choice topped by 1 Jiffy yellow cake mix and a few pats of butter plus cinnamon for the top. I always double the diameter for the briquette number and split them between top and bottom. About 30 minutes.
  • YC_1's avatar
    YC_1
    Nomad
    Nov 11, 2013
    Without analyzing the recipe.

    DID YOU PEEK? Come on now, tell the truth. DID YOU PEEK?

    You cannot remove the lid when Dutch Oven Baking. The temps drop instantly.

    You have to have confidence. YOU CAN twist the lid about 1/4 of a turn so the temps are even. You can even pick the oven up and turn it too so the temps remain perfect.

    2 up 2 down. Ten inch oven use 12 on top, ten on bottom. Add two more to increase temps to about 350.

    If it is really cold or windy you must block the wind any way possible.

    After showing one of my brothers this he decided to pick his own berries and cake mix and just blew me out of the water.
  • Tom_Trostel's avatar
    Tom_Trostel
    Explorer
    Nov 11, 2013
    The recipe was written for a 12" Dutch oven. At the bottom of the recipe it says to double if using a 14" DO. If you doubled it and used a 10" DO, you have put 4 times the recipe needed for your smaller DO. It would take hours to cook anything other than peach stew with that much in a 10". I would try the recipe with one box of cake mix and one can of peach pie filling.

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