Dutch Oven Cherry Chocolate Cake

This recipe comes from a dutch oven(DO) cooking class I took at Kirkhams a few months ago. It's really simple and quick to throw together and can be made up camping in the DO or at home.

Take a chocolate box cake mix and make it according to the directions on the back. Pour the batter into a DO and top it with small cubed pieces of cream cheese. Bake it in the DO at 350 for around 25 to 30 minutes, turning the DO a quarter turn every 7 minutes. You know the cake is done when it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Don't overcook! Invert the cake onto the lid of the DO and let cool. Once cool, split the cake in half and pour half of a can of cherry pie filling into the middle (pictured below).

Top with the second half of the cake. Frost with whipped chocolate frosting and top with remaining cherries. If you don't want to go to the trouble of filling the cake, just frost it whole once it's cooled and pour the cherry filling on top.I'm not usually a fan of fruit and chocolate, but this cake is delicious! The cherries really just add sweetness and moisture. This is a great dessert for camping.

Dutch Oven 101

Kirkham's Sporting Goods offered a free dutch oven cooking class yesterday evening, so my mom, aunt Susan, Dan and I all attended. The two cooks who hosted the event asked who had never dutch oven cooked before and I of course raised my hand. I was then volunteered to be a sous chef the entire evening. Since I love cooking, I enjoyed every minute. We all had a really fun time and came away with some amazing recipes.

They stacked the dutch ovens which I thought was cool and a great way to cook multiple dishes.

Dutch Oven Rolls. They were amazing. I didn't know you could bake bread in a dutch oven. But, anything you can bake in a oven, can be baked in a DO too.

Mushrooms simmered in beef paste and butter then drizzled with fresh lemon juice. Yes, they were tasty.

Pork Roast wrapped in bacon sitting atop red onions. Incredible!

Guess what kind of meat this is? The audience didn't know until after they had consumed the mystery stew. It turned out to be bear. Yes, Bear stew. How was it you ask? The bear was tough, but didn't have an odd flavor. It just tasted like beef. The stew was actually good.



And for dessert, chocolate cake topped with whipped chocolate frosting and cherries. It was divine and everyone gobbled it right up.

I don't have a pic of the finished product as it was eaten too quickly, but here I am finishing the last of my sous chef duties by frosting the cake.

Dutch Oven Chocolate Cake

1 (12 in) Dutch Oven (DO)
1 pkg. chocolate cake miix
1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 container chocolate frosting
1 can cherry pie filling

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter into a greased dutch oven and top with cream cheese cubes. Cook for about 45 minutes at 375', turning DO and lid one half turn in opposite directions every 7 minutes. When done, remove DO from coals and invert cake onto lid. Let cool. Frost cake and top with cherries.

* You could also make this cake in a regular oven. Just prepare the cake mix acorrding to the directions on the back. Make sure to top the batter with the cream cheese cubes before you bake it. Once cooled, just frost and top with cherry pie filling.