Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

Method

1. Set up in a fire pit or on bare ground cleared of leaves, with a bucket of water, heatproof gloves, long tongs and a lid lifter within reach. Fill a chimney starter with 22 charcoal briquettes, light it and wait 20 min, until the top briquettes are covered in grey ash. The count includes a few spares for topping up. Never use charcoal inside a tent or under an awning.

2. Meanwhile make the topping mix (you can do this at home and carry it in a bag). In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the cold butter into small cubes, add it and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces left. Work quickly so the butter stays cold; those little lumps make the biscuits light.

   Add in this stepPlain flour 120 gSugar 30 gBaking powder 1½ tspSalt 1 pinchCold butter 56 g

3. Grease the inside of a 20 cm Dutch oven with the rest of the butter. Add the drained peaches and the measured juice, the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice and salt, and stir right in the pot until the cornstarch has dissolved and no white streaks remain. Spread the peaches in an even layer.

   Add in this stepCold butter 14 gCanned peach slices in juice, drained 400 gJuice from the can 60 mlBrown sugar 30 gCornstarch 2 tspGround cinnamon ½ tspLemon juice 1 tbspSalt 1 pinch

4. Pour the milk into the topping mix and stir with a fork just until a sticky, shaggy dough forms; a few dry bits are fine, and over-mixing makes tough biscuits. Drop spoonfuls over the peaches, leaving small gaps so steam can escape and the fruit can bubble through. Sprinkle with the sugar for a crunchy top.

   Add in this stepMilk 90 mlSugar (for sprinkling) 2 tsp

5. Put the lid on. With tongs, arrange 5 + 11 hot briquettes (bottom + lid): the bottom coals in a ring just inside the edge of the pot, so the centre does not scorch; set the pot on them, then spread the lid coals evenly, with a few around the rim. Bake for 30 min over charcoal (medium heat). Every 10 minutes, lift the whole pot by its handle and give it a quarter turn one way, then turn the lid a quarter turn the other way, so there are no hot spots. It is done when the topping is golden brown, the juices bubble thickly around the edges and a skewer pushed into a biscuit comes out clean. Lift the lid straight up with the lid lifter so no ash falls in.

   charcoal (medium heat)

6. Brush the coals off the lid into the fire pit and, wearing gloves, move the pot onto a flat stone or a heatproof trivet, never onto a plastic table or grass. Let it rest with the lid ajar for 10 min so the juices thicken. Serve warm, scooped straight from the pot. Cast iron stays scorching for a long time, so keep children away. When you are done, drown the coals with water and stir until they are cold.