Camp baking

Ever been out camping and suddenly had the urge to bake something?   It happens to me quite often, so I’ve decided to build a library of recipes specifically for camping.

Take, for instance, this past weekend.  I actually had a movie date with my friend, but The Man decided it was time to grab the tent, the kids and the dogs and go out camping!  Awesome stuff.  Except that Beaverlac is in the middle of nowhere with no electricity.  Or so I thought… because it turned out that, although it has no electricity and only one hot-water shower on the entire farm, it also has a little shop where one could buy (almost) anything.  In my case, I forgot my box of rooibos tea and sugar, and R13 later I walked out with some Freshpak.

But back to baking… so I sat around on Saturday afternoon with my hands itching for a good baking session, when inspiration struck:  BREAD!

The basic recipe:

• 500 g self-raising flour
• 1 can of beer (at this point I do not recommend Castle, but something lighter like Windhoek Lite, especially if you don’t want a beer-tasting loaf)

Mix together and give it a good kneading until you have a nice elastic dough ball.  I was in the mood for some cheesy, garlicky goodness, so I added some chopped cheese and garlic too…

Now, here’s where the fun starts.  You can pop the whole thing into a pot and place it on the fire, make stick bread OR make some rolls, place them on the grid and braai until done.

Or add herbs like rosemary or some maldon salt.  Freakin hell…. add choc chips if you must.  Not even the sky is the limit when you bake this bread at the campsite!