How to cook pancakes on a campfire

I cooked a big batch of small, fat American-style pancakes for breakfast in the woods. I used a muurikka, a large skillet on legs that sits over a hot campfire. The muurikka was new so it required seasoning with a hunk of pork fat. It is a large pan, so I could cook nearly all pancakes and bacon for five people at once: result.

The weighing-out of the “dry” ingredients is best done at home and then, once at camp, you can add the “wet” ingredients. Remember to pack a whisk, a large bowl and something to measure the milk.

Dry ingredients

250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar

Wet ingredients, to be added before you cook

2 eggs
300ml milk (this generally equates to a large mug-full)
Butter for frying

Method

Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the eggs. Gradually add the milk, whisking all the time until you have a smooth batter. Batters should always be left to rest awhile, so you have time to set the campfire and heat up the muurikka (or whatever pan you are using). The pancakes should be cooked rather quickly so a small hot fire is ideal.

Once you have a rested batter and a hot pan, melt a knob of butter and add one large spoonful of batter to the pan per pancake. Once the pancakes start to bubble, it is time to flip and cook the other side. For each batch, melt another knob of butter before cooking more pancakes. Serve hot and with any of the following fillings:

Maple syrup and streaky bacon
Fried eggs and bacon
Fresh fruit
Fried bananas
Caramelized apples
Caramelized oranges

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *