Dutch-Oven Blueberry Bannock with Maple Butter
A flaky, buttery bannock studded with blueberries, baked in a cast-iron Dutch oven with coals above and below, and served warm with whipped maple butter.
Method
Light charcoal briquettes in a chimney starter on a fireproof spot well away from tents, or let your campfire burn down to glowing coals; it takes about , so do steps 2 to 4 meanwhile. Keep a bucket of water, heatproof gloves and a lid lifter or pliers at hand.
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Grate the frozen butter on the coarse side of a grater straight into the bowl and toss with your fingertips so every shred is coated in flour. Cold butter pieces make steam pockets, which give flaky layers.
Add in this stepAll-purpose flour 160 gBaking powder 1½ tspSugar 1 tbspSalt ½ tspButter, frozen for at least 30 minutes 40 g
Pour in the cold milk and stir with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms; a few dry patches are fine. Tip it onto a floured board or plate and pat it into a rectangle about 2 cm thick. Scatter the blueberries over it, fold it in thirds like a letter and pat it gently into a round about 2.5 cm thick, the size of your pot.
Add in this stepCold milk 105 mlBlueberries, fresh or frozen (wild if you can find them) 60 g
Rub the inside of a 20 cm cast-iron Dutch oven with the oil (or line the base with a circle of baking paper). Lay in the dough and cut it into 6 wedges with a knife, about 1 cm deep, so it bakes evenly and breaks apart easily. Put the lid on.
Add in this stepOil for the pot 1 tsp
Set the pot on a level bed of a few coals and arrange more coals on the lid; coals underneath + on the lid: 5 + 11. Bake over charcoal (medium heat) for , giving the pot and the lid a quarter turn in opposite directions every 5 minutes with gloves and a lid lifter, so no spot burns. It is done when the top is deep golden, it sounds hollow and a skewer comes out clean. Lift the lid straight up and set it aside so no ash falls onto the bread.
charcoal (medium heat)Mash the soft butter with the maple syrup and flaky salt until smooth. Let the bannock rest in the open pot for 5 minutes, then break it into wedges and serve warm with a generous spoonful of maple butter.
Add in this stepButter, softened, for the maple butter 20 gPure maple syrup 2 tspFlaky sea salt 1 pinch
Cook's tip
Count the coals using the numbers given: two-thirds on top is what bakes the bannock rather than burning its base. In cold or windy weather add 2 or 3 extra coals to the lid. Use frozen blueberries straight from frozen, as thawed ones bleed into the dough.
Cooking it at camp
At home, bake it in a cast-iron Dutch oven or a cake tin of the same size in a 200 °C oven, without the lid, for the same time, until golden and a skewer comes out clean. The dough can also be made in a food processor by pulsing the cold butter into the flour.