My two favorite parts about camp cooking are griddles and anything made of silicone. Before you re-read that sentence too many times, lemme explain.
We’ve found our griddle (first a full size we’d lay across both Coleman Exponent stoves and now a deep walled one burner version) to be great for single pan, fajita-style meals. Cook up some chicken or fish then throw in some onions and veggie and pretty much anything else you want to take on some of the grilled, BBQ flavor. Best part is when you’re done, give a quick wipe and call the rest “seasoning.”
And silicone’s just a miracle material (stay focused, “gentlemen”). Flexible. Nothing sticks to it. Doesn’t retain odor. We’ve used the squishy bowls for backpacking and even found a video about using them for camp stove baking. We tried it out on some cornbread up on a trip this summer in the Desolation Wilderness.
So while registering for wedding presents at Crate & Barrel, when we saw these little silcone cupcake cups, I had to combine my two favorite things and try something out on the home stove before we hit the road. Note: I ended up getting mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
I started with Ann’s “goto” banana bread recipe, added some shavings from a chocolate bar, and heated up the griddle. I knew it was meant to be when all 12 cupcake cups fit perfectly in my makeshift dutch oven griddle. I doled out equal portions and covered as best I could to “bake.”
About 25 minutes later, they’d risen and a test showed they were well-cooked throughout.In fact, in some cases, the silicone had caused the cups to swell and bulge tantalizingly out of their constraints. Okay, that last sentence was my fault…
Should be fun to experiment with the griddle baking idea on cornbread, biscuits, cupcakes and whatever else.
