CAMPING IS ONE OF summer’s great pleasures. After a day of roughing it, few things could be sweeter than breaking out s’mores for dessert. The gooey concoction of roasted marshmallows and melty chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers is so satisfying, the recipe has endured since first appearing in a 1927 Girl Scouts guidebook.
“It’s the iconic wilderness camping dessert, mainly because it’s so much fun to make,” says Matt Gontram, co-owner and river guide with Embudo-based New Mexico River Adventures. “Everybody gets to make their own. It’s handheld, no utensils are required, and kids love it.”
While no one is suggesting that anything beats s’mores as a reward after a day spent hiking, fishing, and splashing in mountain streams, there are other ways to live your best camp life. Want a gourmet s’more? Elevate the traditional fireside treat by replacing the graham crackers with Oreos, trade the chocolate bar for peanut butter cups, or roast artisanal marshmallows infused with salted caramel, lavender honey, or other luscious flavors.
Explore new summer camping desserts. Photograph courtesy of New Mexico River Adventures.
For multiday trips on the Río Chama, Gontram often prepares a pineapple upside-down cake to end the evening. “It has everything you want when you’re out there camping by the river,” he says. “The Dutch oven sits next to the fire on the grill the whole time during dinner. When we take off the lid and do the flip, the smell fills the camp.”
For Giovanni Lanzante, executive chef at Ted Turner’s Vermejo luxury guest ranch, in northeastern New Mexico, fresh peaches make an ideal camping treat—both as a fresh-picked snack and an elegant camping dessert. “They can be enjoyed as a ready-to-pack snack while adventuring or as a fireside upscale dessert in the evenings,” says Lanzante, whose recipe for Campfire Peaches blends St. Germain liqueur and fresh thyme for a taste of summer.
David Crider, owner of Las Cruces–based Southwest Expeditions, serves Dutch-oven-baked clementine cake and blueberry cobbler, taking camping desserts to new heights. “Our guests absolutely love these desserts after a kayak event on the lake or at a remote site tucked in the mountains of New Mexico,” he says. “There are two things the guests always remember from going on an adventure: the guides and the food.”
Go ahead and pack a Dutch oven for this summer’s camping trip. You deserve it.
Read more: Slow down, cool off, and drink in the state’s ultimate summer foodie experiences.
From executive chef Giovanni Lanzante. Top this recipe with a simple whipped cream, which can be made with heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Use our online recipe, and whip it up around the campfire.
- 3 Palisade peaches, peeled and halved
- ½ cup St. Germain liqueur
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 lemon, juiced
Serves 3
1. In a hot cast-iron skillet, place the peaches pit-side down and cook until browned. Flip and cook for 1 minute more.
2. Add St. Germain (you can substitute amaretto or schnapps) and thyme to the pan, keeping your face turned away from the alcohol burn off.
3. Add sugar and lemon juice, allowing the liquid to reduce by half, and remove from the fire.
4. Place hot peaches in a bowl and pour the liquid over them.
- 1 21-ounce can blueberry filling
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 12-ounce can Sprite
Serves 6–8
1. Heat about 35 charcoal briquettes in a grill or firepit, until white and hot.
2. Pour blueberry filling in a Dutch oven and evenly spread across the bottom.
3. Evenly spread yellow cake mix over the filling.
4. Pour can of Sprite evenly over the cake mix.
5. Carefully shovel about 15 hot coals underneath the Dutch oven and then place 18–20 coals on top of the lid.
6. Bake for 45–60 minutes (depending on how hot the coals are and the weather conditions).
7. Cobbler is ready when it is bubbling, and the crust is turning brown.
TOPPING
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 8 slices canned pineapple
- Blueberries (optional)
CAKE
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup sour cream
1. Heat 20–24 charcoal briquettes, preferably in an elevated firepan.
2. For the topping, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. and
3. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top, cooking until sugar is melted, mixture darkens slightly in color, and bubbles start appearing around the edges.
4. Pour topping mixture into cake pan and carefully arrange pineapple slices and blueberries, if using, in the butter.
5. For the cake, combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.
6. In a large bowl or mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and lightened in color, about 3–5 minutes. If you soften the butter, you can cream ingredients by hand.
7. Beat in egg until incorporated, then mix in vanilla extract and pineapple juice. Once incorporated, stir in the milk and sour cream.
8. Gradually mix in dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Batter will be thick.
9. Pour batter into the prepared Dutch oven, cover, and place over 6–8 of the hot coals and scoop 14–16 hot coals evenly on top of the lid.
10. Bake for 30–40 minutes, or until fragrant, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean.
11. Let cool for 15 minutes, invert cake onto a serving tray or cutting board, and serve at any temperature.
- 4–5 clementines (about 1 pound)
- Nonstick cooking spray or butter
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 1/3 cups almond flour (if at altitude, add about ¼ cup more flour)
- 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder (if at altitude, level teaspoon)
- Powdered sugar, sifted, for topping
- Strawberries or other fruit, for garnish
1. Place the clementines (with skin) in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to a boil, and cook for about 2 hours, adding water if needed, until very soft. Drain and cool, then cut each clementine in half (or quarters) and remove any seeds. Finely chop skins, pith, and fruit in a processor (or finely-chopped by hand) but do not pureé. You want to see some of the skin. (This step can also be done at home.)
2. While fruit is cooling, preheat a covered Dutch oven to 375°. Place an inverted pie tin in the oven. (Note: To reach and maintain 375° in a 12-inch Dutch oven, you’ll need roughly 18 coals placed on top and nine on the bottom, arranged in a circular pattern top and bottom. Keep extra coals burning in case needed.)
3. Butter or spray the bottom and sides of an 8- or 9-inch pan (aluminum pans work fine) and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter or spray the parchment paper.
4. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until a bit frothy.
5. In a large bowl, combine sugar, almond flour, and baking powder.
6. Make the batter and hand-mix in the eggs and fruit. Add the egg and fruit mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. The batter will be thick but also a bit loose.
7. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and place on the inverted pie tin in the Dutch oven and bake for approximately 1 hour, until a skewer comes out clean. Check the cake after about 40 minutes, as the Dutch oven cooks more quickly than a conventional oven. You may have to cover the cake with foil after about 40 minutes to stop the top from burning.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes on a rack (any longer and it will be hard to remove from the pan). Loosen the sides and remove from pan and let cool completely. (If eating from the pan, just let it cool.)
9. Top with powder sugar and garnish with strawberries or other fruit.