Ingredients
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140g ButterSoftened
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140g Caster Sugar
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2 Eggs
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140g FlourSelf Raising
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2 very ripe Bananas
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100g Chocolate ChipsOptional
Directions
Campfire Banana Bread is not something that I had made before on camp. I have made it twice in my life, once in Home Economics in school. This weekend, I helped 50 scouts make 8 banana bread loaves. Now, when I say helped, I largely kept children busy while some Scouts did the mixing.
Down and Connor County Scout Survivor Weekend
Niall, a Scouter from the Belfast-based St. Colmcille’s Scout Group, had organised a backwoods skills camp for the Down and Connor Scout County. He was also running this baking base, I was just assisting.
The weekend was aimed at children in their middle years of Scouts, next year’s potential PLs and APLs. Over the sessions, we looked at natural shelters, tarps and hammocks, knife safety and carving, fire lighting and campfire baking. On a whole, the weekend went well, the concept was good and the Scouts loved sleeping out in the elements with tarps and hammocks.
Shout out to Downpatrick and Derriaghy Scout Groups for lending us hammocks. (Dezzie, sorry again one of mine lost one of your tarp bags)
Anyway – Campfire baking – that’s where the banana bread came in.
Banana Bread on the Campfire
This would work perfectly with Dutch ovens but today we using St. Colmcille’s army surplus dixies. The lid inverts, perfectly holding the coals on top, so it’s exactly like a Dutch oven. They also didn’t seem to need treated or seasoned like the heavy duty cast iron ovens that I am more used to.
The banana bread recipe is very straight forward. We were using rough and estimated amounts and every one was a success so it’s definitely very forgiving. We’ve thrown in some chocolate chips but we also had to make some plain versions for Scouts who were off chocolate for lent! We hope you try this recipe on your next camp, it’s a great patrol dessert. Be sure to use ripe bananas as they mush down more easily.
Steps
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1
Done
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Get a good fire lit to establish a hot bed of embers. Heat the dixies or Dutch ovens on the fire. |
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2
Done
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With a little of the butter, grease the inside of a small loaf tin and set aside. |
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3
Done
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In a mixing bowl, mash up the bananas with a fork. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a spoon until fluffy. |
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4
Done
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Add the eggs, banana mush and chocolate chips (if using) to the sugar and cream and mix together well. Spoon in the flour and mix until there are no flour lumps. |
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5
Done
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Pour into the greased baking tin. Put a flat rock into the dixie, to keep the loaf tin off the base, and set the tin on top. Close the lid and shovel a load of coals on the top. |
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6
Done
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These should take around 30 minutes to cook so check after around 15 minutes. If they are browning already, they are cooking too fast so remove some of the heat. Check with a knife or skewer. When poked, the knife should come out clean, with no cake mixture. |
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7
Done
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Allow to cool and serve with some freshly brewed coffee or tea. |
2 Comments Hide Comments
The Army dixies are very versatile tools and very forgiving! We normally use them for heating water for wash up but here you can see them used effectively as an oven. I have cooked a chicken in them in the past. On the Sunday morning we used the lids as basic frying pans to good effect. Many congrats to the scouts for their baking skills, bread was great!
Definitely, I found them to be a great size. And the lids worked perfectly as a frying pan. A brilliant piece of kit! Thanks Paul!