Before we get onto the details of some great cakes you can make in an instant pot – let’s address a couple of key questions first.
Can I Cook A Cake Mix In An Instant Pot?
The answer is a YES. You can make all sorts of cakes, even cakes made in cups!
What is the main difference between making a cake in a traditional oven vs an Instant Pot.
The key difference is in an Instant Pot, you’re principally steaming the cake under pressure, rather than using heat to cook the cake in an oven.
Because of this, a cake made in a pressure cooker will tend to be a more moist cake with a denser texture.
Ok lets Start with the key steps.
Take Out Ingredients early
Most recipes will have eggs or butter or both. Take these out at least 1 hour before you start so they reach room temperature. This allows the butter and eggs to blend effectively with the other ingredients.
Prepare your Baking Tins/Bowls/Cups.
This is especially important when you make a cake in an instant pot because they are a denser cake so being able to take them out easily after is important. We will typically first use a brush to apply butter to the side of the cake bowl or cup. Then we will line all with parchment paper. And finally brush the parchment paper with butter again. This lets the cake come out easily and also permits the parchment paper to be peel off from the cake with no sticking.
Cover Your Cake with parchment paper and foil.
We always cover our cakes with a layer of parchment paper and folded foil to protect the top of the cake and ensure an even steaming process.
Gluten and Dairy Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cake.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
This is a rich and moist cake and is really well suited to be made in a pressure cooker. It only has 5 ingredients and is really simple to make.
You can watch a short video where we make the cake from scratch
Ingredients:
- 8 Lemons – boiled/pressure cooked and blitzed (emulsified)
- 8 oz Ground almonds 230g
- 8.8 oz Sugar 250 g
- 7 Egg (10.9 oz 310g)
- 0.52 oz Baking Powder. 15g
Method:
- Pressure cook 7-8 lemons for 10 mins on high pressure with 3 cups of water.
- Allow the lemons to cool and deseed.
- Blitz the lemons with a stick blender until a smooth consistency.
- Add the eggs and the sugar and mix on high speed for 5 minutes until the mix turns white and has a ribbon consistency when dribbling back into the bulk mix. That is you can see it from a line on top of the wet mix for a few seconds before it disappears.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on high for 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to make sure all is mixed and remix if necessary.
- Prepare and line the cake tin with baking paper.
- Pour in the mix no more than 75 percent full.
- Cover the top of the dessert cake with tin foil.
- Lower into the instant pot and cook for 90 mins on high pressure on the trivet and approximately 2 cups of water.
- Use Quick pressure release and take care the steam is dangerous.
- Take out and check the cake cooked by putting a skewer in the middle and check that it comes out dry.
- Let the cake cool and then move to a plate for decorating as you like.
Let’s have a quick look at some of the other cakes we have made in an instant pot. Learn about the best bowl for hand mixers.
Steamed Holiday Fruit Dessert Cake
The traditional special occasion fruit cake is a classic that works any time you are having a family get together and you want to impress. This recipe is especially made by us for a pressure cooker and is packed with an assortment of fruits like raisins, pineapple and crystalized ginger.
Carrot Cake
The traditional special occasion fruit cake is a classic that works any time you are having a family get together and you want to impress. This recipe is especially made by us for a pressure cooker and is packed with an assortment of fruits like raisins, pineapple and crystalized ginger.
How To Check The Cake is Done
Insert a wooden toothpick or a metal skewer near the center of the cake. If it comes out clean with no cake mix sticking to it then the cake is done(you may have one or two crumbs on the skewer – that is ok – you are looking for wet uncooked cake mix sticking to it).
If there is some wet cake mix on it, put back for another 5 minutes if there is only a little on the stick. If it is really still very wet you may need 15-20 minutes more.
Conclusion
Making cakes in the instant pot can be fun and rewarding.
You can also try the instant pot fried chicken recipe from the KFC recipe.