help! stove top baked goods?
I am working a few shifts at my favorite restaurant in Leh, in India, and the electricity is wonky here, and western ovens are very rare. But the restaurant owner wants me to teach them how to bake Western goods - cookies, cake, banana bread and the like. All they've got are some propane powered stoves, and a few pots and pans. Is it possible? Do you have any recipes?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
20 Comments:
The NY Times has a recipe this week on no-bake blueberry cheesecake. Peanut butter balls, Rice Krispie treats, s'mores, cornbread on a skilled, pudding poured into a premade pie crust, pancakes and waffles and french toast...but ingredients as well as equipment will determine your choice.
HeartofGlass at 9:47AM on 07/24/08
Years ago there were stove-top ovens, probably a Depression item. I remember them as metal boxes with a hinged door. I think they had a several-layer bottom with some holes (like a "flame tamer") to keep the bottom from getting too hot. There is a lot on Google under "stove-top oven". I bet someone there in India might have and know how to use such an item.
Also there are chuck wagon and campfire cooking groups. They bake in Dutch ovens. I saw a show on PBS or FN about that a year or two ago. That's something else to explore.
Good luck. What fun to be exploring a new place and new cuisine!
Blue Iris at 10:13AM on 07/24/08
Slumps and Grunts are often baked stove-top. Here is a recipe on Recipezaar as an example- no doubt you could sub just about any fruit.
http://www.recipezaar.com/66386
ErikaWaz at 10:21AM on 07/24/08
homemade granola bars are no bake!
bitchincamero at 10:25AM on 07/24/08
Someone posted on this topic on chowhound not so long ago:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/508259
I guess the question is whether you are looking specifically for desserts baked in a pot on the stove, or for desserts that don't require an oven. Two very different questions.
I haven't experimented too much, but I did get no-knead bread to bake in a dutch oven on the stove, and I have baked and roasted a little on a rack in an electric skillet.
What I would do is find the heaviest, largest pot you can get, and a rack that fits inside of it. You can set your small pan or sheet on the rack to get some circulation of heat around your items. You won't get beautifully browned tops, though, and you'll need to monitor very closely to make sure it bakes evenly and the bottoms don't scorch.
I am almost positive you can make banana bread successfully this way. I've made it in a rice cooker before and it came out great. But with a stove, you'll need to put it into a pan and then into the pot. You can probably use your regular recipe and just make sure it fits into your likely smaller pan.
I bet drop cookies would work this way too, but I'd keep them small and of course you'll require several batches.
And I have no doubt that brownies would come out acceptably. Ditto carrot cake.
Do you have access to a tandoori?
renzata at 10:30AM on 07/24/08
I just looked at that thread again and it reminded of me of something close you could try: deep fried pies.
renzata at 10:34AM on 07/24/08
I have baked brownies and cornbread in a cast iron frying pan with a tight fitting lid (any heavy pan would probably do) on the stove top. Ge the pan hot, then reduce the heat quite a bit to create an "oven." It might take a little experimenting in your situation, but it IS possible!
robincat at 10:36AM on 07/24/08
If you have access to a crock pot, here's a cake that can be made in it. Beware that this is from a user-contributed recipe website and the recipes have likely not been tested.
chiff0nade at 10:59AM on 07/24/08
i remember that my grandmother would make cashew cookies and cakes
by baking on the stove in hot sand. maybe you can try something like that?
wibeke at 11:06AM on 07/24/08
leite's culinaria has a recipe for apple pie that you cook on a barbecue
maybe you could adapt it for a stovetop?
or you could use a stovetop waffle iron. to make like krumkakes and waffle
cookies?
wibeke at 11:08AM on 07/24/08
I'd try exploring solar ovens as an alternative.
solarcooking.org
solarovens.net
solarovens.org
kjgibson at 11:39AM on 07/24/08
Can you order a small convection/toaster oven? I always bake my cookies in those. Why power up the whole oven for a single person's batch of cookies?
stumbler02 at 12:17PM on 07/24/08
What a challenge! Neat!
You can easily do cakes and such in a dutch oven or other heavy pan. There are some camping websites that have tons of recipes. I have MUCH better luck cooking sweet goods like this over actual fire than a stove top, as you can use the ashes as the 'oven'.
Quick breads/cakes like banana, carrot, zucchini, chocolate etc. work great! So do 'upside down' cakes, as the liquids/fruits help keep the cake from scorching and make everything moist. Pineapple or other fruits in the bottom of the pan, cake batter spooned on the top.
Cobblers work well too, same idea. Brownies, pudding cakes (the ones that separate as they bake) and cheese-based desserts work like a dream. Less browning, as mentioned above, but still great.
Anything you can do in a hot water bath is also possible, like a baked custard/cheesecake etc. Just put the heavy pan into another pan with hot water up the sides. Putting fruit/brown sugar etc. on the bottom of these pans is also a good way to keep it from sticking/scorching.
Pie can even be done in a dutch oven, and you can brulee the crust after it is cooked by sprinkling with sugar. Gives you the browned look of pie, but the crust is softer rather than flaky. Avoid bottom crusts most of the time.
Meringue cookies work well in a dry dutch oven too, as do other things that can be baked low and slow.
Toaster oven is a great idea!
sadiepix at 4:11PM on 07/24/08
I agree that looking for a dutch oven and look for either dutch oven cooking, campfire cooking or re-enactor cooking. (most houses in the US didn't have stoves until past the mid 1800's and cooked over the hearth.) If you can't find a dutch oven, look for a deep, covered iron frying or sauce pan.
When I was a kid we used to make pineapple upside down cake and different cobblers in a dutch oven while camping.
I'm also thinking something that is present in any culture is some sort of pancake. (pancakes, crepes....)
cmtigger at 2:24AM on 07/25/08
another vote for the cast iron dutch oven! I have 5 different sizes of the darlings and couldnt live without them. SO and I camp alot so i can attest that just about anything you can bake in the oven can be done in a cast iron dutch OVEN. and ive even made cupcakes in one by putting in a layer of sand to keep the temp even. its just takes some experimenting to find what works best. Good Luck! (I envy you!)
huneybumper at 8:56AM on 07/25/08
there are all kinds of british puddings that are steamed on the stove, and steamed boston brown bread. i just did a google search and came up with tons of hits.
cybercita at 10:01AM on 07/25/08
here's another thought: charlottes and tiramisu made with packaged italian ladyfingers do not require any baking.
cybercita at 10:04AM on 07/25/08
thanks all for the great advice! sounds like dutch oven's the way to go, but i'll have to make do with what the restaurant's got, so it'll take some experimenting.
marchpane at 1:45AM on 07/26/08
If you can't get a "dutch oven," surely there is a wide heavy pot/pan in the kitchen. Be bold with your experimentation and I'm sure you will find success.
renzata at 5:21AM on 07/26/08
Congrats for taking on such a big challenge. I am living in Sri Lanka with similar cooking conditions, but without restaurant pressure--so this might be helpful, I hope. Talk to the local bakery about renting oven time. They might be glad to have the business and you can bake larger quantities. I have a tiny oven, about toaster oven size, but its temperature controls are unreliable and it has a hot spot. For restaurant quantities, or even big family quanitities, the dutch ovens may be too small. Another possibilitiy is to look around for an old brick oven--some of the 19th c. homes and hotels had them, and baked a week's worth of bread in them. They burned dried coconut shells. Good luck!
Estrallita at 3:04AM on 01/01/09