American Cake - Cake #17: Cowboy Cake

 Time Period: 1800-1869

Americans have always been a people on the move, so in order to satisfy their cravings for sweets, recipes were developed that didn't require a lot of the equipment or ingredients necessary for a lot of traditional cakes. 

Cowboy Cake is a perfect example: It's baked in a Dutch oven, and doesn't use eggs, butter, or milk. Pioneers and prospectors could simply stir together some flour, sugar, spices, fruit, and water, set it on the fire, and voila. Dessert is served.

I took the book's suggestion, and replaced the raisins in the recipe with dried apricots and peaches. The fruit was simmered in water, and shortening was then dissolved in the infused liquid. Once you stir in the dry ingredients, you've got a batter. Then I made the syrup with additional water, shortening, and sugar, and poured it over the top. Then simply bake until done.

It's a pretty tasty cake, and if I hadn't stupidly burned myself on the syrup, would have been a fairly simple preparation as well. We always think that cowboys were limited to things like trail mix and beef jerky, but as it turns out, they could turn out a cake worthy of anything available back in the urban jungle.