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I'm taking my in-laws into the Algonquin Backcountry for the first time this weekend! It's a short in and out with lots of time around the campsite.
I'm planning on making cinnamon buns (see previous post) which I am confident will turn out. I'm also planning on baking a cake from a recipe from Canoe Routes magazine.
The recipe calls for Powdered Eggs but I could only find Powdered Egg Whites at Bulk Barn. Anyone have any experience with these two ingredients? Should it be a straight substitution?
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I usually buy a Betty Crocker cake mix that only needs to have water added.."it already has the powdered egg in the mix and it's totAlly simple to make. 1 box will make a cake for the 10" backcountry oven
The only other powdered egg I have been able to find is through a food wholesaler, but it usually comes in large cans. In my area that is RICO foods.
Last year I bought for the first time a dried egg ( could have been powdered, I can't remember) through MEC but it was expensive and I did not like the texture, although I'm sure you could use that too.
And cinnamon buns are the best, I too make them regularly when camping.
If you have it, you can also drizzle a little bit of maple syrup on the cinnamon/sugar mix, then roll up and you have sticky buns.
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Claire, why not just take regular eggs? We just came back from a two and a 1/2 week trip with 2 dozen eggs. The key for duration is to buy farm eggs that have not been refrigerated or cleaned.
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Christinecanoes is right, as we have our own chickens on the farm, your eggs will keep well without cooling or cleaning. Cleaning removes a thin layer that keeps bacteria from entering the eggs.
Tip: if you're not sure if you're eggs are still good, here's what you do.
Take the eggs you want to use and put in a tall pot of water, fresh eggs will stand on their tip on the bottom ( broad side up)
An egg around a week to two weeks old will go sideways, but stays under water.
If the egg floats, do not use, it will be rotting.
This has to do with the air chamber in the egg, it gets larger as the egg gets older due to the egg slowly deteriating.
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Other alternatives are to use apple sauce instead (vegans do this) or buy powdered eggs online (amazon has them). But for 1 cake, I'd just take the eggs personally. You can also buy egg replacement at bulk barn. If you do use the powdered whites I would love to hear how they turn out.
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I ended up getting the powdered egg whites from the bulk barn. I'll report back on my success or failure with the cake.
I don't have time to get proper powdered eggs online and I don't want to bother carrying in whole eggs. I know you can get nice containers for them and I understand that they will totally stay fresh but I just don't want to deal with a case and carrying them in. Maybe next time.
Thanks for the advice!
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Chocolate Cake Update!
The cake was.... O.K. I wouldn't call it a roaring success but it wasn't a total flop. I used a recipe from the latest Canoe Routes magazine and increased the volumes to suit by 8" pan (as opposed to the recipe's 6" pan).
It was as if I didn't have enough batter for the pan (despite careful conversions!) and the cake was very thin and more like a thick, cake-y pancake than actual cake. I also think using egg white powder as opposed to powdered eggs hurt the overall consistency.
I won't share the recipe unless requested as it wasn't a huge success.
What I did learn is that lining the pan with moistened parchment paper and topping the pan with tin foil helped the cake "bake" as opposed to "fry." I'll try this method another time with a just add water and oil cake mix from the store like Tentsterforever recommended.
What I also learned is that M&Ms make impressive decorating tools!
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upsizing ingredients rarely works well- some proportions tend to stay the same regardless of size, I find this especially true with oil, salt, and eggs.
It also looks like the batter was too runny, or not cooked hot enough to drive out the steam (which helps it to rise).
for my dutch oven, I use 1-1/2 "complete" mixes, and wipe it with oil and flour before adding the mix, and don't lift the lid until it smells done.
Online!
You would have to nearly double the recipe when going from a 6" pan to an 8" pan. Area of 6" pan is 113 square inches and area of an 8" pan is 201 square inches. That's why it always pays to get the large pizza...the additional surface area associated with a small increase in radius or diameter is deceptively large!
We've had similar issues but the end result is something sweet and chocolatey...so it's never a total flop!
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I'd highly recommend the Outback Oven if you like baking. I use mine with an MSR Dragonfly stove. The oven consists of a heat deflector so the stove isn't blasting directly at the center of the pan, a 10" teflon coated pan that doesn't have a handle, a metal lid with a temperature gauge and a heat resistant fabric cover that completely covers the pan assembly. We use ours to do brownies, cinnamon buns and bannock.
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CanoeClaire, all I can think when I see that picture is how awesome it would have been to stick those M&M's in with the cake batter and let them melt all around with their colorful candy coatings and chocolaty goodness.....mmmmmmmmmmm.
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I second the outback oven!
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