One of our long-time, much-loved counsellors (and soon to be Quest Master!) is also a chef. I’m referring, of course, to the talented Jonah. Knowing that we all have a little time on our hands over the next few weeks, Jonah has put together some camp-inspired recipes for you all to try. Please send photos of the results, and we’ll post them to inspire others!
Overnight cookies
During my overnights I go back to Toronto and made these cookies because they are what I craved more than anything. Straight up, they’re the best cookies you’ll ever have.
Ingredients:
Wets: ½ cup white sugar, 1 ½ cups dark brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 sticks or ½ pound butter (preferably unsalted), vanilla to taste (I put a teaspoon)
Drys: 2 cups All Purpose (AP) flour, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt (if you really like salty/sweet like I do, put a tablespoon), optional: cinnamon and nutmeg (tsp cinnamon, pinch nutmeg) – goes well with the brown butter
Chocolate:
Mix milk chocolate chips along with dark semi-sweet chips
Recipe:
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir. In a separate, larger bowl, combine the sugars.
2. In a stove pot, add the butter, and cook on medium heat and starts to turn brown. Brown butter is created when the butter clarifies and the milk solids start to brown and caramelize. Stir the butter so it doesn’t burn and wait until the top is foamy and the butter underneath is brown. If you’ve never browned butter before, check a quick Youtube tutorial. It’s super easy and will make literally anything you use it with a million times better (accurate math!)
3. Once the butter is browned, carefully pour it over the sugars and mix slowly making sure not to splash yourself with the hot butter. Allow to cool for up to a minute, then begin to stir with a whisk adding the vanilla and the eggs. Once everything is mixed, slowly add in the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon. Once mixed add your chocolate chips. Optional: Roll the mixture into balls and place in the fridge for an hour. This stops spreading when baked.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 and place the rolls balls of cookie dough around 2 inches from each other. Bake for around 12 minutes (I bake them until the edges are done but the inside is still a little under so they a really soft and chewy
5. Take out and cool
6. Eat, pretty straight forward
Woodruff Parfait:
Sweet Woodruff is a herb that grows wild at camp. It’s an amazing herb that adds sooooooo much to anything you put it in. The flavor is wild and tastes of Sweetgrass. That said it’s annoying to find. Worth it, but annoying. So if you can’t find it just replace anytime I say woodruff in the recipe with vanilla bean
Ingredients:
Woodruff (Or vanilla)
Two eggs
35% cream (About 1-1 ½ cups)
White sugar (to taste)
1 Lemon
Frozen Blueberries- a bag
Sponge cake
Fresh Blueberries
1. Take the Woodruff and place it in a sauce pot and add half of the cream. Very slowly bring the cream up to a simmer and let the woodruff step in the cream like you’re making tea. Keep tasting until you feel that the woodruff is really coming through, then add sugar to taste.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and place the yolks in a bowl. Very slowly pour the hot cream over the yolks and whisk as you do so, so the eggs don’t scramble. Once the yolks and the cream are fully combined, pour bake in the pot and cook on low heat until it thickens into a pastry cream (Don’t worry, that’s as hard as it gets.) Once it’s down, pour into a bowl to cool
3. Zest the lemon into the leftover cream and whip
4. Place the frozen blueberries in a pot and cook until it starts to melt into a jam. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste
5. Plate up time! Pour some of the jam on the base of whatever you’re serving this in (Glass, bowl, mug, water bottle, do whatever you want, I’m not the boss of you) then layer of crumbled sponge cake, then the woodruff cream, then the whipped cream, then fresh blueberries and a few woodruff leaves on top
Brock cake
Don’t ask
Ingredients:
Pretzels
Vanilla icing
4 eggs
1.5 cups powders sugar
1 cup AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp hot water
1 tsp salt
Recipe:
1. Mix four eggs in a stand mixer (Or with your whisk if you wanna work out your arms a little) and add the sugar and fully combine. Really whisk these for a while so that they are really fluffy
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Feel free to add vanilla or nutmeg or anything you want to add a little more flavor (You can even add chili powder or smoked mushroom powder……I mean you shouldn’t but you can) Slowly sprinkle the flour mixture into the eggs and sugar as you mix them together slowly
3. Melt the butter in a small pot and place in a cup. Add the hot water and stir before you then pour into the batter while mixing it in.
4. Pour the batter into an 8 inch wide cake pan (and at least 2 inches tall, or taller in the pan is less then 8 inches wide) and bake in a pre heated 350F oven for around half an hour
5. Once baked, leave to cool completely before topping with way too much vanilla icing and crumbled pretzels. Really go over the top with this one