Chocolate Camping

Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen and my 11-year-old scout was baking a surprise for the family. He found this recipe in the March-April Scouting Magazine and decided to give it a go. With some help from his dad, he altered the recipe slightly to bake it at home but we will definitely try it next time we go camping. It won the 1st Place award in the Dessert category of their Great Tastes In Camp Cooking Contest.

Three Rivers Muddy Delight
1 box Jiffy Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 egg
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups hot water
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coconut flakes
8 cherries
8 ounces Cool Whip

Preheat large Dutch oven. Prepare the cake mix per instructions and set aside.
Select a disposable aluminum cake pan and pinch the edges of the pan to ease removal of the finished cake from oven.
Pour prepared batter into the cake pan and place in Dutch oven. Mix "mud" ingredients - baking cocoa, brown sugar, hot water, vanilla and coconut extract - in a separate bowl and pour over batter.
Bake for 30 minutes using 12 coals on top of Dutch oven and 8 coals underneath.
Remove lid and sprinkle cake with chocolate chips. Replace the lid and wait 3 minutes for chocolate chips to melt. Spread evenly and sprinkle with coconut flakes.
Serve warm with a dollop of Cool Whip and a cherry on top.
Serves 2-4.

And FYI, the following recipe won the overall Grand Prize in the contest and also looks worth trying out.

Lemon Lime Soda Apple Dumplings
2 large Granny Smith apples
1 12-ounce can lemon lime soda
2 8-ounce cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1 stick real butter
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Use a Dutch oven large enough to accommodate all apples in one layer because they'll rise/expand while cooking.
Cut each apple into 8 pieces. Wrap each piece in one crescent roll.
Melt butter in bottom of the Dutch oven and roll each piece in the melted butter before placing them in the bottom of the pan.
Mix cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle the mixture over all apple pieces (mixing the sugar rather than just dusting the tops better incorporates the cinnamon flavor). Carefully add the soda so as not to wash away sugar from the dumplings.
Based on oven size, adjust the amount of briquettes on top and bottom and bake until dumplings turn golden brown (in conventional oven about 30 minutes at 350°).
Serves 8.

There you go. Two recipes for the price of one. ☺