How to Bake a Delicious Chocolate Orange Cake Over a Campfire: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Bake a Delicious Chocolate Orange Cake Over a Campfire: A Step-by-Step Guide

Experience the ultimate outdoor dessert with our Chocolate Orange Cake recipe, perfect for cooking over a campfire. This campfire cake recipe combines rich chocolate and zesty orange flavours, creating a mouth-watering treat that will impress friends and family on your next camping trip. Plus, you bake the cake batter right in the orange peel so there are minimal dishes!

Prep the ingredients at home and follow our easy, step-by-step guide to make a homemade cake from scratch, even in the great outdoors. Learn the best tips and tricks for baking over an open flame, ensuring your campfire dessert is always perfectly cooked every time. 

Ingredients: 

4 large navel oranges 
150g flour   
150g brown sugar
25g white sugar
50g cocoa powder
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp orange zest
85g butter (6 tbsp)
2 eggs
175ml whole milk (¾ cup)
2 tbsp orange juice
1 can whipped cream 

Preparation: 

1. At home, combine all dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt). Mix thoroughly, and then store in a plastic bag, or mason jar.
2. At the campsite, make sure you have a good fire going (maybe use one of the other Kuma Kitchen campfire recipes first). We just want a good bed of coals for baking these cakes.
3. To a large mixing bowl, add the previously prepared cake mix, followed by 2 tbsp orange zest (about ½ of a large orange).
4. To a small saucepan, add the butter, and place over the fire until melted. 
5. Add the melted butter directly to the mixing bowl, and mix to incorporate (so the hot butter doesn’t cook the eggs in the next step).
6. Crack 2 eggs into the batter, and then add the milk.
7. Cut the tops off all of the oranges, squeeze the juice of 2 into the batter. Mix to incorporate, but do not over mix. There should be no dry streaks, but some lumps are fine.
8. Using a small knife, cut the X in the fruit of the orange careful to not go through the peel. Then carefully cut around the circumference of the fruit. This makes it easier to scoop the fruit out. 
9. Scoop all the fruit out, save it in a separate bowl for breakfast tomorrow. Do your best to get as much of the fruit out as possible, otherwise it can make the batter too wet while baking. 
10. Pour the batter directly into the oranges, Filling to about 60%. The cake will rise to the top. Wrap each orange tightly in tinfoil. Recommended process is to place the orange on a sheet of foil, bring the left side, then the right side to the top, folding over each other (top should be flat). Then wrapping the long edges underneath the orange. This makes sure the oranges are wrapped tightly, the cake won’t push out the top, and also puts the largest amount of the foil on the bottom of the oranges adding an extra layer against the coals.
11. Place directly onto a shallow bed of coals in the fire, and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes. When you think they are done, you can stick a toothpick in to see if it comes out clean. Or if you have an instant read thermometer, you should remove it when the temperature is between 195-205F.
12. Unwrap, and let cool slightly, then top with whipped cream.

TIps: 

• Buying large navel oranges is important, as they have a very thick peel, which makes scooping the insides out a lot easier, but also helps with the baking.
• Do not poke the oranges to check the cake often or early, as if the batter is still very wet the cake will continue to push out of the hole after checking.