For Lee Kalpakis, the author of Out There: A Camper Cookbook, cooking in the woods is about making do and being adaptable. It’s a lesson she had to learn during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she traded in her Bushwick loft for a used camper nestled in the Catskills mountains. “I’ve always been an outdoor cat,” she says. “I’m originally from the Hudson Valley and after [more than a decade] in the city, I was craving nature.” So Kalpakis packed up her things and relocated to a camper, a temporary home while she and her partner began building their own upstate cabin from the ground up.
Kalpakis began documenting her campfire cooking and recipes on social media. She always wanted to write a cookbook, but never predicted it would be about camping recipes — until she realized she was fully qualified to do so. “It was all just happening before it was an idea for a book,” she laughs. But as she accrued tons of experience working with a wonky oven, crafting easy-to-assemble desserts, and cooking over open flames, Out There came together.
As did her recipe for mocha tiramisu cups, a low-lift dessert perfect for prepping ahead of time or making at a campsite. Like most tiramisu recipes, Kalpakis’s begins with layering ladyfingers soaked in coffee and — per her preference — dark rum. (She also encourages experimentation with different liqueur options, like amaro or cassis; she’s recently tried it with a local currant cassis made in the Hudson Valley.)
Once the dessert’s simple mascarpone whipped cream is whipped and divided, it’s time to assemble. The recipe calls for finishing the mocha cups with fresh raspberries, but deviation is welcome. “I love raspberries with coffee, but blueberries would go really well or bananas would be excellent,” Kalpakis says. “I also used a lot of jam and compote when I was in the camper so if you didn’t want to use fresh fruit, a dollop of raspberry jam on the bottom would be really great.”
Although Kalpakis makes her tiramisu in individual cups, and the recipe is written for the campsite, she acknowledges that the recipe would also work in a bigger container that’s prepped and packed at home — we doubled the recipe to fill a 7-cup container as shown here. Like camping, this recipe is all about adaption. “Since it’s just assembly, it’s fun and easy,” Kalpakis says.
Mocha Tiramisu Cups Recipe from Out There
Makes 3 servings; double it for 6 servings in one large container as pictured
12 ladyfingers
2 cups cold brewed coffee
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 cups cold heavy cream
¼ cup mascarpone
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened sifted cocoa powder
1 pint raspberries (optional)
Step 1: Break the ladyfingers in half and make a layer of the halves. In a small measuring pitcher or other vessel with a spout, stir together the coffee and rum, then pour the mixture over the ladyfingers.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, mascarpone, maple syrup, and vanilla until the mixture is velvety and holds soft peaks when the whisk is lifted, 3-5 minutes. Pour half of the cream mixture into a medium bowl and set aside. Sift the cocoa powder over the remaining half, and whisk until fully incorporated into the cream.
Step 3: Spoon the cocoa-cream mixture on top of the coffee-soaked ladyfingers. Then do the same with the plain cream mixture. Top with the raspberries, if using, and enjoy.
From Out There: A Camper Cookbook Recipes from the Wild by Lee Kalpakis. Copyright © 2024 by Lee Kalpakis. Reprinted courtesy of Weldon Owen, an imprint of Insight Edition.
Dina Ávila is a photographer living in Portland, Oregon.
Recipe tested by Ivy Manning
