Campfire Orange Cake
Winter is well and truly upon us here in Orange NSW. Although I much prefer the heat, I do LOVE a good campfire. There’s just something about sitting around a fire with family and friends that adds an extra layer of warmth, and lots of love!
I have wanted to try this unique campfire orange cake recipe for a while now, and have been waiting for the weather to cool and fire season to begin. This week at Bush Kindy the weather was cold and rainy. The perfect combination for a fun morning outdoors around a fire.
I had intentions of collecting dry grasses, twigs, sticks to build our fire together, however with a full night of rain, there was no chance of any of the above being dry enough to light. So, after a quick dash to Bunnings to buy kindling and fire starters, we were all set for our morning.
My memo to our Bush Kindy families was we were going to do some simple campfire cooking, so they were pleasantly surprised when damper and orange cakes were on the menu!
I made the chocolate batter at home the morning of, to make it a bit more time efficient, as we were already going to be making the damper batter from scratch at our site.
We had such a beautiful morning teaching the children how to start a fire, making our orange cakes and damper, and just enjoying each others company around the fire. 
The orange cakes were a huge hit and we can’t wait to make more. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have, and tag The Ultimate Playground in any photos of your fabulous orange cakes, we love to see them!
(The damper was also delicious and the recipe is included in 92 Days of Winter in Nature which you can download FREE when you subscribe to our mailing list!)
Campfire Orange Cake
Ingredients
140g plain flour
100g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
Teaspoon salt
160g brown sugar
200g dark chocolate chips
140g softened butter
4 eggs
350ML milk
3tsp vanilla essence
12 Oranges
Method
1. Slice the tops off oranges and scoop out the orange flesh (you can eat this, use it for juice, or discard) Set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients together using a whisk or spoon (you can blend this mixture together beforehand and transport in an airtight container
3. Spoon mixture into oranges so they are half full
4. Place lids on top and wrap in foil upright
5. Place oranges on hot coals upright and leave to cook for 15-25 minutes, rotating if necessary
6. Using tongs, carefully remove oranges from coals and open the top to check if they are ready, using a butter knife or skewer. If they are not ready, return to coals for a further few minutes.
7. Enjoy!
