Master Chef Contest Sweet First Runner-Up: Harvest Coffee Cake

Scouting Magazine Master Chef Contest Sweet First Runner-Up

Harvest Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping, by Ken Selby

Judges’ Comments: Another nod to the great orchardist, Johnny Appleseed, whose wisdom assured we’d have plenty of fruit with which to judge our contest! This coffee cake by Ken Selby is packed with tasty apples and is a wonderful accompaniment to any meal of the day.

What you’ll need:

Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 standard stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 apples; peeled, cored and thinly sliced

Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 standard stick) butter, softened

What you’ll do:

1.     Light and heat 25 briquettes.

2.     To prepare batter, mix all dry cake ingredients in a large bowl.

3.     Add eggs, vanilla extract, 1/2 cup butter and sour cream to the bowl. Stir well.

4.     Fold sliced apples into batter.

5.     Line a 12-inch  Dutch oven with parchment paper and then pour cake batter into oven.

6.     Place all topping ingredients in a second bowl and mix together with a pair of forks.

7.     Sprinkle topping over cake batter.

8.     Set eight coals underneath the oven and 17 coals on lid.

9.     Bake for 45 minutes, rotating oven and lid a quarter-turn in opposite directions every 15 minutes or so until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

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Find even more Dutch oven recipes at scoutingmagazine.org/dutchoven.

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About the judges: Tim and Christine Conners are proud parents of two Scouts and authors of several camping cookbooks. Find their books at local Scout shops or at booksbyconners.com.