May trail tip: how to make a camp oven
Many people make their own camping and hiking food, cooking on a camping stove or over an open fire. The fire usually gets used for frying and boiling water, while the stove tends to be reserved for boiling water and one-pot meals.
With two pots, though, you can put together a makeshift oven that lets you bake pizza, bread or even a cake for dessert!
Fresh baking is a real treat on a multi-day hike. Pack a pre-mixed flour blend for bread, and your hiking companions will thank you when you serve up a fresh loaf alongside dinner.
Carrot cake in a camp oven
Carrot cake is a classic dessert, and it's easy to make for an evening treat at a shelter or by the tent. Baking takes a good 1.5–2 hours, so allow plenty of time. The recipe makes enough cake for six people.
You'll need a camping stove, two pots and three stones. The pots must nest inside each other with space left between them, above and below. The larger pot needs a tight-fitting lid.
Make the cake batter and frosting at home beforehand. Pack them in airtight containers with lids that won't pop open in your rucksack.
Cake batter
Whisk these ingredients until light and fluffy:
2 eggs
2/3 dl light brown sugar
1/2 dl sugar
1 dl rapeseed oil
150 g / two large carrots, finely grated
In a separate bowl, mix together:
2 dl plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp ground nutmeg
salt
a handful of crushed walnuts
Combine the dry ingredients with the egg and sugar mixture.
Frosting
200 g plain cream cheese
50 g butter
2 dl icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
Let the cream cheese and butter come to room temperature. Once they're soft, mix everything together well.
Decoration
Gather decorations for the cake at your rest stop or along the trail. Wild strawberry leaves, for example, look lovely and are edible too – just rinse them in clean water first. In berry season you'll find plenty of good options.
This recipe originally comes from Kinuskikissa's collection. It has been adapted over the years, and the quantities are tested to suit baking in the smaller Trangia pot (1 litre). Kinuskikissa has plenty of other cake recipes you can adapt for the outdoors.
Baking the cake in a camp oven
An ordinary gas stove works fine. The photo shows a sturdy stove box and a multi-fuel stove. What matters is that you can turn the flame down fairly low.
WARNING: If you heat an aluminium pot on full power, you can burn a hole in it and ruin the pot!
Place something non-flammable in the bottom of the larger pot to lift the inner pot off the base. Smooth stones work well (they won't scratch the pot), or you can use balls of foil. Three objects keep the pot better balanced.
For the oven to hold an even temperature, the inner pot needs to “float”, so hot air can circulate underneath, above and around the sides. A tight lid keeps the heat in, and the cake bakes faster.
A good choice for the outer pot is the Trangia 125-2.5 Pot 2.5 L shown in the photo. It's also handy for cooking larger batches of soup, or for winter trips when you're melting snow for water.
Before you leave home, cut a piece of baking paper to fit the base of the inner pot and place it in the bottom. You can grease the sides, but it usually isn't necessary.
Baking time varies a lot depending on the stove's output, the pot, wind, outside temperature and so on. The cake usually takes about 1–1.5 hours. Test it with a wooden stick – when no batter sticks to it, the cake is done.
Once the cake is cooked, turn it out onto a serving surface. Let it cool completely, otherwise the butter in the frosting will melt and it won't look great. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. You can also slice the cake in half with a large knife and add a layer of frosting in the middle, but if the cake isn't very tall, it's better to frost just the top. The recipe makes a generous amount of frosting.
Enjoy your freshly baked cake and share it with your friends – it's sure to win you plenty of compliments. It goes well with a cup of coffee from your kuksa.
Watch the video too: