Beer Berry Cobbler Recipe in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
This is likely one of the easiest recipes you’ll prepare in your camp cast iron Dutch oven. It may be easy, easy, easy…but it’s delicious, delicious, delicious. It’s great in the summer with some vanilla ice cream. And it’s good in the winter too. Hey…you want to know what’s great about this recipe in the winter? If you have snow at camp, make some snow ice cream for this dessert.
This recipe will work great with most any fruit. Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and even peaches, apples, pears, and the like. I’ve even created this with fine-chopped rhubarb. I’ll present the recipe by using blackberries. But, I am sure you are already thinking of fruit you’ll be trying.
You can use either use fresh fruit or frozen fruit: but…you’ll need to let the frozen fruit thaw before you use it in this recipe. And, that’s okay. I usually buy the frozen fruit and use it in the ice chest or cooler as “ice” to keep other things cool like milk, butter, and the like. Like the ice in the ice chest or cooler, it’ll thaw fine and dandy.
The Cast Iron
This recipe will do very well in a 12-inch regular (shallow) camp cast iron Dutch oven. A 10-inch may work but I’d suggest a deep 10-inch Dutch oven.
Supplies You May Need (Affiliate Links)
If you pre-prepare this recipe at home, you will only pack a mixing bowl, stirring spatula, and a 1-cup measuring cup with you to camp. All in all, you will need:
- Microplane (Zester/Grater) (https://amzn.to/3J1ff7I)
- Measuring Spoons: 1 Teaspoon and 1 Tablespoon
- Measuring Cups: ½ Cup, ¼ Cup, and 1 Cup
- Mixing Bowl large enough for 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of milk
- Mixing Spatula
- Two 1-Gallon Zipper Bags
I didn’t include the list of in-camp Dutch oven supplies you’ll need for cooking in your camp cast iron Dutch ovens. The tools I listed her are recipe-specific. If you’d like me to list a full list here to include the Dutch oven-specific needs, let me know and I’ll start doing that from now on.
Ingredients:
I am going to present this recipe with three ingredients groups:
- Wet Ingredients
- Dry Ingredients
- Ingredients You Will Pack to Camp
Though things like milk are considered “wet” and sugar is considered “dry,” keeping certain ingredients separate until ready to cook is important despite their “state of matter” (you Chemistry Geeks will get that).
A note on the beer choice:
First, here’s a link to the beer I used in the video from Bombastic Brewery: https://www.bombasticbrewing.com/
You may not be able to find this specific beer in your area. I’ve included some links to Bombastic’s site to give you an idea of the beer I like to use in this recipe.
Going with a darker, sweeter porter or stout is my preference. A citrusy beer or sour will work A-OK too but you’d need to consider the amount of lemon zest you will add. And, as always, a nice and light lager will work great. As a matter of fact, we will only be using ¼ cup of beer; you could just add the first ¼ cup of whatever beer you will be enjoying as you create this recipe.
A note on the lemon zest:
Zest is the outer colored part of the peel of citrus fruit and is used as flavoring. There’s a lot of lemony lemon in that lemon peel. I add much more than my suggested 1-2 teaspoons. I love the lemon flavor of this recipe when I add that much zest. My suggestion is to start out with only 1-2 teaspoons of lemon zest and see how you like it. Zest is like salt; more is not always better but that depends on the person enjoying the meal. It’s very subjective.
You will not need a microplane or a zester for this recipe. You could use the small side of a cheese grater or just peel the lemon and chop the peel very, very fine. My suggestion is to add a microplane or zester to your kitchen’s utensils. They are quite inexpensive, and you will find that it’s also pretty handy-dandy. Here’s a link:
We’ll start with two one-gallon zipper bags or two separate containers. In one bag, we will add all our dry ingredients. In the other, we will add our wet ingredients.
The Wet Ingredients:
- 4 Cups of Berries (Fresh or Frozen)
- ½ Cup of Sugar
- ¼ Cup of Beer
- 1-2 Teaspoons of Lemon Zest
The Dry Ingredients:
- 2 Cups of White Flour
- 1 ½ Cups of Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon of Salt
The Ingredients You Will Pack to Camp:
- 2 Cups of Milk
- 8 Tablespoons of Butter
Instructions
Steps to Create the Cobbler
My suggestion is to pre-prepare your ingredients and have them ready when it’s time to bake. It’s almost like having a homemade cake-in-a-box that is ready to go for easy baking in camp. The entire recipe can be prepared and created in camp if you like. I am going to present the recipe in two parts:
- Pre-Prepared Ingredients
- Ready to Bake
Pre-Prepare Your Ingredients
Step 1: Set out a 1-gallon zipper bag or other container and add all of the wet ingredients; mix thoroughly. Store in the ice chest, cooler, or refrigerator until ready to bake.
Chef’s Tip: Keep the zipper bag of wet ingredients either double-bagged or stored in a second container to reduce the risk of leakage or spillage in the ice chest or cooler.
Step 2: Set out a 1-gallon zipper bag or other container and add all of the dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Store this until you are ready to bake.
Step 3: Pack the milk and butter in the ice chest or cooler until you are ready to bake.
Chef’s Tip: I just bring an unopened container of milk with me to camp. Two cups of milk is all we will need but having milk in camp is pretty okie-dokie come sun rise or even used as an ingredient to soups or stews.
Ready to Bake Steps
Step 4: Set 24-30 charcoal briquettes to fire. Let them heat until they are hot and ready.
Step 5: Set a 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven over 24-30 hot-and-ready charcoal briquettes.
Step 6: Add the stick of butter to the Dutch oven. We need this to be fry-ready. Careful!! DON’T BURN THE BUTTER.
Chef’s Tip: If you burn the butter…no worries. You brought an extra stick, right? Pull the Dutch oven from the fire and wipe out the burned butter. If you use some paper towels, these butter-soaked paper towels make great fire starter.
Step 7: As soon as you put the butter in the Dutch oven, mix the dry ingredients with 2 cups of milk. Use a mixing bowl to stir them together very well. This is our cobbler batter.
Step 8: Once the butter is hot and fry-ready, pour the batter into the Dutch oven and over the butter. It’ll be bubbling around the edges.
Chef’s Tip: Very hot and melted butter is the key here! That batter will start cooking as soon as it hits the butter. We want the batter to cook on the butter and not on the cast iron (in a manner of speaking). This is how we keep it from sticking.
Step 9: Once the batter is in the Dutch oven, add the wet ingredients to the top of the batter. DO NOT MIX the wet ingredients in with the batter; just evenly add, drop, or spread the berry mixture to the top of the batter.
Step 10: Return the lid to the Dutch oven and remove the Dutch oven from the hot charcoal briquettes. Add 16 hot briquettes to the top of the Dutch oven and set the Dutch oven over 8 hot briquettes. (24 total briquettes: 16 on the lid and 8 under the oven).
Step 11: Let this bake for 10-minutes. Then, turn the Dutch oven: Turn the lid 1/3rd turn in one direction and the whole pot 1/3rd of a turn in the other direction.
Step 12: Let this bake for another 10-minutes (20-minutes) total. Visually check the cobbler. We want our cobbler to be baked and “dry” but not “dry.” Cobblers have fruit; some bubbling is expected. The key here is to make sure the batter is baked. It should be spongy.
Chef’s Tip: This is a forgiving recipe. A little under-done or a little over-done…it’s going to be delicious.
Step 13: If you feel the cobbler needs more time, return the lid to the pot and give the pot another turn. Wait five minutes and check again. Do this every five minutes until the cobbler is done.
Summary
And the recipe is now yours!
This is a crowd-pleaser for sure. You’ll likely feed 4-6 people with this one.
Creating this recipe at home in a home Dutch oven is very doable as well. If you do bake this recipe at home and in your home’s oven, leave the lid off the Dutch oven while you bake.
CHEERS!
You all keep on cooking in those cast iron beauties and enjoying those glasses of that fermented barley pop.
We’ll see you next time.
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Beer Berry Cobbler Recipe in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Equipment
- 1 Microplane (Zester/Grater)
- 2 Measuring Spoons: 1 Teaspoon and 1 Tablespoon
- 3 Measuring Cups ½ Cup, ¼ Cup, and 1 Cup
- 1 Mixing Bowl large enough for 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of milk
- 1 Mixing Spatula
- 2 Gallon Zipper Bags
Ingredients
The Wet Ingredients
- 4 Cups Blackberries Fresh or Frozen
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ¼ Cup Beer
- 1-2 Teaspoons Lemon Zest
The Dry Ingredients
- 2 Cups White Flour
- 1 ½ Cups Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Pack To Camp Ingredients
- 2 Cups Milk
- 8 Tablespoons Butter
Instructions
Pre-Prepare at Home
- Set out a 1-gallon zipper bag or other container and add all of the wet ingredients; mix thoroughly. Store in the ice chest, cooler, or refrigerator until ready to bake.
- Set out a 1-gallon zipper bag or other container and add all of the dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Store this until you are ready to bake.
- Pack the milk and butter in the ice chest or cooler until you are ready to bake.
In-Camp Bake Steps
- Set 24-30 charcoal briquettes to fire. Let them heat until they are hot and ready.
- Set a 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven over 24-30 hot-and-ready charcoal briquettes.
- Add the stick of butter to the Dutch oven. We need this to be fry-ready. Careful!! DON’T BURN THE BUTTER.
- As soon as you put the butter in the Dutch oven, mix the dry ingredients with 2 cups of milk. Use a mixing bowl to stir them together very well. This is our cobbler batter.
- Once the butter is hot and fry-ready, pour the batter into the Dutch oven and over the butter. It’ll be bubbling around the edges.
- Once the batter is in the Dutch oven, add the wet ingredients to the top of the batter. DO NOT MIX the wet ingredients in with the batter; just evenly add, drop, or spread the berry mixture to the top of the batter.
- Return the lid to the Dutch oven and remove the Dutch oven from the hot charcoal briquettes. Add 16 hot briquettes to the top of the Dutch oven and set the Dutch oven over 8 hot briquettes. (24 total briquettes: 16 on the lid and 8 under the oven).
- Let this bake for 10-minutes. Then, turn the Dutch oven: Turn the lid 1/3rd turn in one direction and the whole pot 1/3rd of a turn in the other direction.
- Let this bake for another 10-minutes (20-minutes) total. Visually check the cobbler.
- If you feel the cobbler needs more time, return the lid to the pot and give the pot another turn. Wait five minutes and check again. Do this every five minutes until the cobbler is done.
Notes
Creating this recipe at home in a home Dutch oven is very doable as well. If you do bake this recipe at home and in your home’s oven, leave the lid off the Dutch oven while you bake. CHEERS!
