Forget the oven and grab a pressure cooker, you can make delicious moist cake in it. No Kidding!
The first ever cake that I’d gobbled up when I was a kid was not the fancy one that was made in an oven nor it was topped with whipped cream or buttercream frosting. It was a simple and humble butter cake made in a pressure cooker by my dear mom. At that time we didn’t have an oven, but my grand parents had an electric oven which looked like a large dutch oven with a lid, it was light weighted and can be carried by hand to anyplace. Whenever we used to visit my grandparents, my mom used to make cakes and cookies in it. I am not sure if that oven is still at my grand parents house, may be I should raid the attic the next time I make a visit. If I get lucky, I’ll share the picture of that antique oven, it has a very unique look. Other times, my mom made the cake in a pressure cooker and we enjoyed it like anything. The texture of that cake was very similar to the ones made in an oven and tasted really good.
Now that almost all the kitchen has an oven, does it make any sense to bake a cake in a pressure cooker?
Well, I’d been thinking of making the cake in a pressure cooker for so long and it finally happened yesterday on a very snowy day. I opened up the curtains that blocked the backyard view, I peeped outside and got glued to the view of snow flakes having fun in the air. They were reluctant enough to settle down. It was a very calm and soothing view. Suddenly, my mind time traveled to my childhood; a lot of good memories flashed through my mind, one of them was the cake made in a pressure cooker. The enthusiasm and the happiness my sister and I had while we enjoyed that cake, how we fought for the last piece of the cake, how grateful we were to our mom for treating us…
I wanted to recreate that whole experience, for that I had to make the cake in a pressure cooker not in the oven. It wasn’t that hard at all as I had a pressure cooker and all the simple ingredients to make the cake. I made the cake batter, poured it into a pan, kept it in the pressure cooker and for the next 35 minutes I kept my fingers crossed. I wanted the cake to turn out good just like my mom made, I wasn’t ready for any flops. The cake did turn out great, the texture was so soft and moist. It would be hard for anyone to believe that this cake was made in a pressure cooker.
- All purpose flour – ¾ cup
- Cocoa powder- ¾ cup
- Powdered sugar- 1½ cups
- Butter(unsalted) – 100 gm or ½ cup + more for greasing the cake pan
- Eggs(white and yolk separated), room temperature- 3, large
- Baking powder – ½ tsp
- Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
- Use Gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour
- Xanthun gum- 1 tsp
- Separate the egg white and yolks.
- Beat the egg white separately using an electric hand mixer till fluffy, keep aside.
- Beat the egg yolks separately till smooth, keep aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together.
- In another bowl, beat the powdered sugar and butter to a cream mixture.
- First, add the beaten egg white and combine well.
- Next, add the beaten egg yolk and combine using an electric hand mixer.
- Add the vanilla extract, combine well.
- Add the flour mix little by little and gently fold it using a whisk or beat at low speed.
- Line the bottom of a 6 x 2-3/4 inch spring foam pan or a 9 inch pan with parchment paper, grease the pan with butter.
- Pour the cake batter into the pan.
- Place a pressure cooker over medium heat.
- Place a rack into the pressure cooker and place the cake pan on it.
- Don't place the cake pan directly on the pressure cooker, the bottom of the cake will burn fast.
- Cover the cooker with its lid without the sealing ring and don't place the whistle on it either.
- Turn down the heat to low and cook for 30 to 40 minutes till a fork inserted into the cake comes out clean.
-I used a 3 L pressure cooker so had to use small cake pan which was taller, so it took longer time for the cake to cook.
-If using 5 L or larger cooker, use 9 inch cake pan.
-The cake cooks faster and evenly without burning the sides or bottom in a larger flat cake pan.
