Campfire éclair a simple, fun, tasty outdoors treat

Posted on: July 19, 2018 | Bob Frye | Comments

The humble campfire éclair checks a lot of boxes.

First, they’re made over, well, a campfire, which is always a good thing because that means you’re outside, camping and relaxing. They’re simple. They’re family friendly. Children, especially, (including teens, though they might not admit it) get a kick out of preparing them, something that’s more important than ever in this era where it’s often a struggle to get them outdoors.

And oh yeah, they taste really good, too.

We made them a couple of times recently on a week-long camping excursion in Pennsylvania’s French Creek State Park and they were fun on each and every occasion.

So what is a campfire éclair?

They’re crescent roll dough, wrapped around a wooden dowel rod and toasted golden brown over hot coals, filled with pudding and topped with whipped cream, powdered sugar or chocolate syrup.

To make them takes one bit of planning.

The humble campfire éclair tastes good.

Dowel rods for making a campfire éclair.

The dowel rods – we use ½-inch ones – need to soak overnight in a bucket of water. That keeps them from catching on fire when over the coals.

From there, though, preparing campfire eclairs is simple.

Take pieces of the dough – we use two of those triangle-shaped wedges for each – and wrap them around the rods to make a tubular éclair 6 inches long or so.

You can involve the kids right from there – though, if they’re little, be sure they’ve washed their hands. A muddy, dirty campfire éclair is not a good campfire éclair.

Next, toast those over the coals.

Be careful here. Putting the dough too close to the coals, or even directly in the flames of the fire, results in an éclair burnt on the outside but still gooey in the middle, very similar to a blackened marshmallow.

Instead, hold it a foot or so above the heat and rotate it. Cooking it all the way through takes just a few minutes, though you have to gauge that as you go.

A campfire éclair.

Toasting a campfire éclair.
Bob Frye/Everybody Adventures

When they’re done, place them on a plate to cool.

In the meantime, fill a plastic sandwich bag – or a piping bag, if you’re a cake decorator – with pudding. Cut one corner of the bag away.

Squeeze the pudding into the éclair from both ends until it’s full. Finally, top with whipped cream (note: if you put the whipped cream on before the éclair cools, it will just melt and run off the side).

Then, it’s time to eat.

And start over.

Don’t be surprised if you end up making a bunch of these. Every time we have, especially if there are campers who haven’t had them before, we go through a lot. It becomes an assembly line of rolling dough on rods, toasting, filling, topping and repeating.

But that’s a good thing.

Eventually, when it’s time to wrap up, you wipe off the dowel rods and put them back in water so they’re good to go again the next time.

And that’s it. Simple, fun and good.

Who doesn’t like that around the campfire?

 

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Bob Frye is the everybodyadventures.com editor. Reach him at 412-838-5148 or bfrye@535mediallc.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodyadventures.com.

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