Steamed Bread at Home or Camping

By Cat92831

Ingredients

• Steamed breads are so versatile. We love the outdoors and are always looking for
• interesting and different foods that we can cook while camping and steamed breads can
• be cooked as you lounge around the campfire. They make wonderful treats at home.
• And they make great emergency fare since you don't need an oven or even a range to
• cook these breads.
• Many heritage cookbooks have recipes for steamed bread but you can experiment with
• quick bread recipes. Many will work steamed as well as baked. Steamed breads tend
• to be moister and denser than most quick bread recipes.
• We put the following recipe together for a trip into the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming
• with a group of Varsity Scouts. We assembled the ingredients in plastic bags before
• leaving home. At the camp site, we started it cooking next to the morning fire and by the
• time breakfast was over and the dishes were done, the bread was ready. It was a little
• rich for morning food--more like a cake than a bread--but these backpackers didn't seem
• to mind and it certainly turned out good enough to be a great treat at home.
• Apricot-Date Nut Bread with Caramel Sauce
• 11/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup apricot nectar
• 2 cups chopped dates
• 1/2 cup chopped Brazil nuts
• Caramel Sauce
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup dry milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Step 1

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. (If you are taking this camping, combine
these ingredients in a plastic bag before leaving.)
Stir in the juice until just combined. (An individual serving-sized can of apricot nectar is
just about the right size.) Stir in the dates and nuts. (If you prefer, you can substitute
raisins, dried apricots, or cranberries for the dates. Of course, you can use your favorite
nuts.)
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Pack the dough into a well-greased large can or other cooking container. Cover the top
with heavy foil and tie it securely with string. The objective is to capture steam inside
the container to cook the bread.
Place the can on a rack in a large pan or kettle. (At camp, a few clean pebbles work as
well as a rack.) Fill the pan with water and set it to simmer. Let the pan simmer for two
hours, adding water as necessary. When done, invert the bread onto a plate and slice to
serve.
For the caramel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and cornstarch and
stir. Then stir the water and dry milk together and add to the pan. Cook and stir until
thick and bubbly, about five minutes at low heat. Add the vanilla. Serve hot or cold over
the nut bread. (For camping, put the dry ingredients in a plastic bag adding the vanilla to
the brown sugar. Melt the butter; add the dry ingredients and then the water.)