Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This pound cake is easy and fast to make and is moist and sweet and delicious, and disappears as quickly as it’s made. This could be served in the evening as a light dessert as is or with maybe a little fruit and whipped cream spooned over the top. It could be added to a breakfast menu. It is simply delightful with a hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa. It can be served as is. It is that tasty.

This pound cake is so yummy; I could start every morning with a slice of this and a hot cup of coffee.

This pound cake is simple enough to make in camp or it could be made ahead and taken to camp wrapped in plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container. It tastes just as good fresh as it does the next day. Loaves can also be frozen for enjoying much later.

If you’re making this in camp, you’ll want to bake it in a box oven or you could bake it in a Dutch oven with the loaf pans sitting on a trivet. Or you could pour it directly into a small Dutch oven and not use loaf pans at all. How you decide to bake it will determine how many coals you need.

For more quick bread ideas, check out my “Best Banana Bread” recipe and “Cookie’s Cornbread” recipe.

Equipment
2 9×5 loaf pans, 2 medium mixing bowls, sturdy mixing spoon, and measuring cups and spoons.

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Prep
Preheat your oven or prep your coals. Toss your blueberries in a little flour. This will help them integrate better into the batter and not sink to the bottom.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Mix in the eggs one at a time. In a second medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. By hand, gently fold in blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly between two greased 9×5 loaf pans. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45-55 minutes. Refresh coals as needed. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before running a knife around the outside the pans and turning out the loaves onto a cooling rack.

Makes 2 loaves. Servings will vary depending on how thick you slice the loaf.

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Cheese for Backpacking

We have a deli drawer in our refrigerator that is overflowing with cheese because we hate cheese in this house! With only a few exceptions, just about every meal includes cheese of some kind. Years ago, my children decided that if I had a food-based name, it would be Parmesan because I put Parmesan on just about everything. One of my go-to snacks is string cheese or a wedge of Cheddar.

On a weekend or week-long backpacking trip, I’m not sure I would survive without cheese. And, cheese is a great source of calcium and protein, two important things for rebuilding our bodies after a long day on the trail. In addition, for me, that little wedge of Laughing Cow or that slice of Cheddar on a cracker is a morale booster and puts me in my happy place. So, what to pack?

Hard Cheese

Hard cheese is best for extended trips, hot weather, snacking, and meal topping. Low moisture in aged hard cheeses concentrates flavor and extends shelf life. Hunks should remain edible for more than two weeks in temps in the low ‘80s. All hard cheeses sweat oil and whey, so opt for bricks rather than sliced or shredded and the moisture will be easier to manage and the shelf-life will be longer. Wrap in waxed paper then loose plastic wrap–not a resealable bag. Store in a food-specific stuffsack to prevent an oily mess. Our favorites are Cheddar, Mozzarella, and Parmesan (of course).

Cheddar is good fuel for cold or hard hikes due to its high fat content (9.5g/ounce). I love pairing it with apples or slicing it and eating on crackers.

Mozzarella is another good choice, but it needs to be the low-moisture, semi-dry variety and not the water-packed kind. Smoked hunks and string singles (my favorite) can last two weeks without refrigeration.

Parmesan is considered a recovery superfood because it is protein-dense and salty (450mgs/ounce), and digests quickly and easily. Pack solid pieces (trim off the rind) and shave onto meals after cooking or include the powdered variety in your homemade meals.

Soft Cheese

Soft cheese is best for short trips and cool weather. Their high moisture content makes them mold quickly. Soft cheeses should remain edible for a week at temps below 72°F; at higher temps, they can spoil in as little as two days. Purchase vacuum-sealed packs. After opening, seal in an airtight container and store in a cool part of your bag.

Brie is a creamy, sharp-flavored cheese that is high in salt. The rind is edible so there’s nothing to pack out. If you’ll be hiking through an area where there are good trail berries in season, it goes well with berries. If not, you could pack single-serve packets of jam to go with it.

Cream cheese is a low-fat spread that adds body to sweet or savory foods. If you thin it with a little water, you can substitute it for sour cream or milk in a recipe. Single-serve packets are pretty easy to find and last longer than a week without refrigeration.

Goat cheese is easier to digest than cow cheese. Because of that it makes a great lunch or snack because it is not likely to upset your stomach. However, it is more delicate than many other cheeses so plan to eat it in your first few days on the trail.

Shelf-Stable Cheeses

These long-lasting cheeses can boost flavor and calories in your recipes.

Powdered cheese is dehydrated and lightweight. It can be added to recipes that call for cheese like mac and cheese or alfredo sauce. Mix blue cheese into polenta, Cheddar into pancake mix or sprinkle dried Parmesan on anything.

Processed cheese has a mild taste but it has a high salt content, which, on the trail, isn’t necessarily a bad thing because you are sweating so much. Velveeta, Easy Cheese, American slices, and gourmet brands can last weeks so they are perfect for those 50-milers or longer trips like the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, or the Continental Divide Trail (the Triple Crown of Hiking). Blending during production helps “processed cheese food” stay creamy when melted (instead of separating like natural cheese). Stir 1/4 cup into two cups of cooked noodles for a rich meal, or add to soup mixes to increase calories.

So, when you’re planning your meals and snacks for your next backpacking trip, don’t be afraid to cheese it up!

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Cheese Spread! Don’t Forget the Crackers!

We tend to burn a lot of calories on campouts. We’re playing and/or working hard. In addition to our 3 squares a day, at the end of the day, we’re looking for that bedtime snack to tide us over until breakfast. We call it a cracker barrel. It’s also a place to gather and talk about the day and share stories around the campfire.

For cracker barrel, we like to keep things simple. No cooking and no cleanup because who wants to be doing dishes late at night? Finger foods are the way to go and this make-ahead cheese spread is perfect. It’s simple to make (about 15 minutes) and brings an element of fanciness to a campfire cracker barrel. Folks just don’t expect it and that makes it fun to serve.

To learn more about the tradition of the cracker barrel or for more cracker barrel ideas, please read my blog post: “Evening Cracker Barrel and the Art of Snacking.”

This cheese spread can be made at home before you go. It can be kept chilled up to two days, so I would make it no earlier than Thursday night for a Saturday night cracker barrel. Serve it with crackers, sliced bread or crudités, which is a fancy French word for sliced or whole raw vegetables. I like to serve it with crackers because, growing up, cheese and crackers was one of my dad’s favorite snacks, and that’s a fond memory for me.

We’ve spread it on Wheat Thins, Ritz, buttery club crackers, and plain old saltines. There really isn’t a cracker this cheese spread doesn’t go with. My favorite is the Wheat Thin or some kind of whole wheat or whole grain cracker.

For serving, you can shape it into a ball or a log, or smush it into a shallow plastic container. A shallow container will give the spread more surface area for the chives, parsley, and peppers you’re going to sprinkle on top. You want folks to be able to get a nice combination of everything on their vessel.

I use a 25-ounce shallow Glad container that holds half a batch nicely and allows plenty of room to sprinkle on the toppings (pictured above). If I need to serve a whole batch or more, I use multiple containers. I transport the toppings separately and sprinkle on when I’m ready to serve.

If you’re making this at home for a holiday party or a family gathering, you can line a small, 6-cup Bundt pan with plastic wrap and press the mixture into that and chill for 1 to 48 hours. Unmold it onto a serving platter and cover it with the chives, parsley, and peppers for a festive looking wreath. Crackers, bread, and crudités can be arranged around the wreath or served in baskets, bowls or platters on the side.

This recipe calls for pickled piquanté peppers, such as Peppadew, which is a trademarked brand. Peppadews are hot, very sweet peppers that have been pickled. The heat is similar to a jalapeño and they are bright red, which gives the cheese spread a very festive look. Peppadew peppers are hard to find, depending on where you live. I have to order them from Amazon. In a pinch, we’ve used Mezzetta sweet cherry peppers, but they’re not quite the same. Whichever you use, I recommend removing the seeds because they are very hard. Leftover peppers can be added to the crudités or you can save them and add them to other dishes. They are great on a pizza.

Ingredients
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups shredded firm cheese, such as Cheddar, Pepper Jack or Colby
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup pickled piquanté peppers, such as Peppadew, seeded and finely chopped
½ cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh chives, finely chopped
Crackers, sliced bread or crudités, for serving

Directions
In a food processor or a medium mixing bowl, if you’re mixing it by hand, combine the cream cheese, shredded cheese, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper until smooth. If you’re using a food processor, transfer the mixture into a medium bowl. Fold in all but 2 tablespoons of the chopped peppers.

Form the mixture into a ball or log and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Or, smush it into a shallow plastic container or a 6-cup Bundt pan lined with plastic wrap and cover. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

At home, if you’re using the Bundt mold, uncover and invert the cheese mold onto a serving platter. If you formed it into a ball or log, unwrap and transfer to a serving platter (in camp, you could use a large paper plate).

In camp, if you’re using a shallow plastic container, you can serve directly out of the container. Sprinkle with the chives and parsley to completely coat the cheese mixture, and garnish with the reserved 2 tablespoons peppers.

Serve with crackers, sliced bread or crudités and you’ll need a knife or spreader.

Serves 16 to 20.

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Chicken Mini Pies

This has to be one of our family’s top 10 favorite things to eat. We don’t make them very often because they are a bit labor intensive, but they are well worth the effort. In fact, they taste so yummy that we nearly devour them as soon as they come out of the oven, piping hot and scalding our mouths in the process. But we just can’t stop ourselves. They are that yummy.

The cream cheese chicken mixture is well seasoned, but not spicy. It goes so well with the paprika seasoned pie crust. It’s comfort food you can hold in your hand.

To make assembly in camp easier, both the pie crust and the filling could be made ahead of time at home and ride to camp in a cooler. Here are a few more tricks we’ve learned along the way.

We chop all the vegetables really fine so every pie gets a nice variety of goodies. Dicing the veggies extra small also makes sure the filling is not too lumpy, which makes assembling the pies harder. When making the filling, we add the celery at the very last so it’s still a little crisp, but don’t forget to add it (like I’ve never done that before).

For the poultry seasoning, we prefer Johnny’s but you could also use Lawry’s or whatever poultry seasoning happens to be your favorite.

We make our own pie dough from scratch in 2 batches. I’ve tried to make one big batch, but it’s too hard to handle. For a flakier pie crust, make sure to refrigerate the dough before rolling out. So, making ahead actually works better for the pie crust.

If you choose to use store-bought pie dough, just give it a light, even, dusting of paprika as you roll it out. Use about a teaspoon of paprika and evenly distribute across your pie crusts. The pies won’t taste the same without the paprika pie dough. And you’ll need the equivalent of about 4-5 pie crusts.

To cut out the pastry rounds, we use Pampered Chef’s 4-inch round cut-n-seal or you can use a 4-inch biscuit cutter and then crimp the edges with a fork. I can bake 4 at a time in a 12-inch Dutch oven.

I can bake 7 at a time in my 16-inch Dutch oven.

I can bake 8 on a 17¼ x 11¼ baking sheet in a box oven (apple box) or a regular home oven.

For instructions on how to make a box oven, see my blog post, “DIY How to Build a Box Oven.”

Any way you bake them, they will disappear as fast as you can make them. Make sure you get one before they are gone!

Equipment
Dutch oven or 17¼ x 11¼ baking sheet, skillet, mixing bowl, pastry cutter, measuring cups and spoons, 4-inch round cut-n-seal or 4-inch biscuit cutter, and a 2-tablespoon ice cream scoop.

Filling Ingredients
¼ cup celery, finely diced
¼ cup onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups chicken, cooked and finely shredded, fresh or 2 13-ounce cans
3 tablespoons chicken broth
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup cream cheese

Pastry Ingredients (make 2 batches)
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
1 cup cold butter, grated or diced
8-10 tablespoons cold water

Prep Work for the Filling

In a large skillet, sauté onion in butter. Stir in chicken, broth, seasonings, and cream cheese. To the chicken mixture, add the celery and just heat it through.

Prep Work for the Pastry

Sift together flour, salt and paprika. Cut in butter until it resembles small peas. Gradually add water until ball forms. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. Roll out pastry to 1/16-inch thickness. Cut rounds.

Assembly of the Meat Pies

Mound 2 tablespoons of filling on half of the rounds you cut (we use a small 2-tablespoon ice cream scoop).

Moisten edges with water; place another round on top and seal the edges either with the cut-n-seal or with a fork.

Place in ungreased Dutch oven or on ungreased cooking sheet. Prick tops with a fork. Bake in a 375°F oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

For a box oven, you’ll need about 15 coals.

For a 12-inch Dutch oven, you’ll need 27 coals, 9 underneath and 18 on the lid.

For a 16-inch Dutch oven, you’ll use 38 coals, 13 underneath and 25 on the lid.

Makes about 20 pies, which will feed 10 if everyone has 2 pies or 6 if everyone has 3 pies (it’s been known to happen). If there are leftovers, at home, they reheat very nicely in the microwave. In camp, we just wrap them in foil and warm them by the fire.

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Blueberry French Toast Casserole

This French toast casserole is loaded with French toast flavor with none of the mess or bread flipping. It all goes together in a Dutch oven and, when it’s done, you can all sit down together and eat.

This recipe can be prepped up to 24 hours in advance so you could prep it at home right before you leave and then assemble it the next morning for a quick and easy breakfast in camp. It also makes a great breakfast at home that you can assemble the night before, and is a great way to do French toast if you’re feeding a crowd. If you dry the bread by baking it in the oven (instructions are at the bottom of the post) then the bread cubes will act like little sponges and really soak up the egg mixture and make a firmer casserole.

We’ve made this with fresh and frozen blueberries and with frozen peaches and we like each of those versions. The one pictured above was made with blueberries. Very yummy! We want to try apples next.

 

Equipment

12-inch Dutch oven or 3-quart rectangular baking dish, mixing bowl, whisk, measuring cups and spoons

 

Ingredients

12 slices white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 8 cups), dried*

1 8 ounce packages cream cheese, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries, peaches or apple chunks

12 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 cup maple syrup or maple-flavor syrup

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

 

Prep

In a mixer at home or in a medium mixing bowl in camp, whip or whisk cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs, milk, syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla. The cream cheese will be lumpy and that’s okay.

Place half of the bread cubes over the bottom of a well-buttered 3-quart rectangular baking dish or foil-lined Dutch oven. Sprinkle fruit over bread cubes. Arrange remaining bread cubes over fruit.

Carefully pour egg mixture over the bread mixture. This can be covered and chilled up to 24 hours; however, I would not recommend chilling it in the Dutch oven. I would assemble it in a bowl for transport to camp and then, in the morning, just dump it into the foil-lined Dutch oven and bake. When we made this last weekend, we did everything in camp, assembled, and then let it sit while we prepped the coals and that was plenty of time for the bread to soak up the egg mixture.

Prep 25 coals.

Bake in a 350°F oven, using 17 coals on the lid and 8 coals underneath, for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean, and topping is puffed and golden brown. Refresh coals as needed. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with maple syrup or flavored syrup to compliment your fruit.

Serves 8

 

*To dry bread slices, arrange bread in a single layer on a wire rack; cover loosely and let stand overnight. Or cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes; spread in a large baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 300°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until dry, stirring twice; cool.

 

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