How to Make Cake in a Pressure Cooker - Step by Step Pictures

"How do I bake a cake in a pressure cooker?" This is the most often asked question in comments, emails, and messages on this blog. I postponed baking in a pressure cooker because, frankly, I was scared to try it. I vaguely remember my aunt cautioning me against it when I was a child and I have read on quite a few blogs that, yes, you can definitely bake a cake in the pressure cooker but it's not very good for your cooker and it may compromise its safety.

Eggless Vanilla Cake with Tutti Frutti - made in a Pressure Cooker

Technically, I didn't see what the issue was but I did have this (probably) irrational fear of making a cake in a pressure cooker, especially since I had a perfectly functioning and good oven. But I ventured forth last weekend and made a cake from scratch in a pressure cooker, and let me tell you, there's really nothing to fear, just a few things to remember. So here goes.

HOW TO BAKE CAKE IN A PRESSURE COOKER

1. Decide on a good, uncomplicated recipe for your pressure cooker cake. I will share the recipe of the cake in the picture above very soon but I would guess that pretty much all cake recipes will work well in a pressure cooker too. Prepare the batter and set aside.

2. Use a pressure cooker that's at least 3 litres, but 5 litres is a good size and what I would recommend.

3. Remove the gasket (the rubber insulation thing) on the lid of your pressure cooker. This is an important step. You also do NOT need the whistle.

4. My pressure cooker came with this stand that goes at the bottom of the cooker pan. It distributes heat more evenly and is especially useful when baking in the pressure cooker. If you don't have, try to find a substitute. Maybe a small, thick steel plate would do the job as well.

It's better not to have the cake pan touch the bottom of the pressure cooker directly since that may cause the bottom of the cake to cook more rapidly. Another option is to place the pressure cooker on a flat griddle or tawa and cook the cake. It's just an insulation between the flame and the bottom of the cooker to protect the cake.

5. Another important thing to remember is, do NOT add any water to the pressure cooker pan for baking a cake. If you do, you will be steaming the cake (which is fine to do - here's my method of steaming a cake) but here we are trying to create an oven-like environment using a pressure cooker, as much as possible. The heat generated in the pressure cooker wil be enough to cook/bake the cake.

6. Before starting to bake the cake, you need to pre-heat the pressure cooker. For this, just place the lid (without gasket) on the pressure cooker (which should contain no water) and cook on high heat for 2 mins.

7. Now you can put the cake batter in. Make sure to use a cake pan that fits comfortably in the pressure cooker without the sides touching. Use a pot-holder since the cooker will be hot because of the pre-heating.

After placing the batter in, close the lid and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes and then lower the flame to just a simmer. The cake, depending on the size of your cake pan and pressure cooker, will take anywhere between 45 minutes to 1 hour to bake.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. A pressure cooker is not meant for baking or using in the manner described above so consider that before using it to make a cake.
2. I don't expect it will burst into pieces while cooking (I was very worried about this though, without reason) but it may compromise the quality of the safety valve on the lid and the high heat may cause the handle and other parts to deteriorate a bit.
3. Using your pressure cooker to bake once or twice a year is probably okay but not regularly. If you bake anything more than once a month, I recommend buying an oven. It will be worth it and your options are much wider than using a pressure cooker to bake.
4. Always check manufacturers instructions to make sure your make and model of pressure cooker can handle this. I am not sure how a steel pressure cooker will behave, mine is a basic 5 litre aluminium one. It's probably best not to do this in a non-stick pressure cooker since dry-heating a non-stick surface without water or oil is not advised.

All that aside, I baked an eggless vanilla cake with tutti frutti in pressure cooker and it turned out moist and delicious. Recipe coming soon! Recipe linked above.

To learn How to Make Pressure Cooker Cake in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, etc, please use the Google translate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

How to Pre-Heat an Oven

This is Basic of Baking - Part II - Pre-heating an Oven. Here's Part I - Getting started with baking.

I know it sounds silly that I write an entire post on this but check these stats out:

- Since I started blogging, I have received 134 emails in total, with questions, comments, suggestions, etc
- 88 of them are baking-related questions
- 32 of them asked oven-related questions
- 18 of them are about pre-heating an oven

So, how do we pre-heat an oven. Its really very simple, in fact too simple, which is probably why many people have questions about it.

2 Steps to Pre-Heat your Oven

Step 1: Remove everything from the oven except the oven racks. Position them in the middle (where I leave them by default unless the recipe specifies otherwise). Turn on the oven and set the temperature to what the recipe specifies. Don't worry, nothing will explode! (Been there, feared that)

For eg: if it says "bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C / 350F" then that means you should turn your oven on to 180C / 350F. If your oven uses Gas, then there will be gas marks on the oven, just go online to get a conversion from centigrade or fahrenheit to gas mark.

Step 2: In most ovens, there will be a light or a "ping" indicator that changes colour or makes a ping noise when the oven has reached the desired temperature. This should take roughly 10-15 mins depending on temperature so turn on the oven mid-way through the preparation steps.

Most recipes call that as the first step but I usually find that too early so I do it mid-way through the preparation of the dough or batter or whatever.

That's it! Once your oven is pre-heated, place your item in and bake till done!

But wait, I hear some of you saying that your oven doesn't have a temperature knob. My mom has been using one of those for over 30 years. There's only an on-off button and absolutely nothing else, not even a light that goes green or orange. Its still okay, you can bake beautifully in this oven too. Just make sure you turn on the oven for a good 10 mins before placing the batter/dough in it to bake. Keep an eye on the time (as mentioned in recipe) and also the appearance of the baked item. For a cake, make sure you check if its rising, you can also try inserting a skewer to see if its coming out clean. If you need to, stop the oven for a bit, check and then re-start if its not done. Just make sure you are quick about it.

If you have any further questions, leave a comment and I will do an FAQ post :)

Basics of Baking - Baking Essentials for Beginner Bakers

Of late, I am getting a LOT of questions from beginner bakers on how to get started on baking, what are the first few essentials, ingredients and their substitutes, ovens and types of ovens, pre-heating, etc. This is a 2-part series on the basics of baking.

Needless to say, I am definitely no expert and these notes and observations are based on my personal experiences or what I have seen work for others. Feel free to contest, share, or add in your thoughts in the comments section.

Basics of Baking - Part I - Getting Started with the Essentials of Baking

Of course, the first thing you need to get is an oven. I have already done a lot of research and posted about it types of oven and how to choose an oven.

The next thing is definitely baking trays and pans. There are lots of variety here in terms of what you can get and it can get confusing. However, the basic must-haves according to me, are below:

- Square and round cake pans, preferably Springform Pans, since it's very easy to get the cake out of the pan after baking

Round springform pans are easier to get and may be slightly more expensive than normal pans but its definitely worth it and you will find yourself reaching out for one of these most often. An 8" or  9" diameter is the most versatile.

The material for regular cake pans doesn't really matter but stay away from glass (pyrex type ones) as your first pan. The baking time will increase and the texture may differ too. Aluminium, non stick or silicon pans are your best bet.

- Baking trays or Baking Pans
Most ovens come with one of these, so you may not need to buy one. Very handy when it comes to baking cookies or potato fries. I have a round baking tray for pizza which has holes at the bottom for more even baking. If you plan to bake a lot of pizza, this may be handy. You can also lay a baking sheet or parchment over it and use it to bake cookies. Check out Baking Trays here.

- A good mixing bowl, whisk and rubber / silicon spatula

You can definitely use the bowls you have in hand currently but there's something special about having one just for your baking. I have a regular steel mixing bowl from Ikea that I use only for mixing during baking and it's just fantastic. These glass mixing bowls are fabulous too and have been on my wish list for a while now (in case any of you feel like sending me some!)

A whisk is very handy when you don't want to invest in an electric beater just yet. There are a lot of recipes that come out very well without beating your hands out of their sockets so don't worry about starting with just a plain old whisk. There are lots of options now for whisks too, like silicon, metal, or rubber. Browse whisks here.

A silicon spatula makes life so so easy and I insist you get one. It scrapes the sides of the bowl very efficiently and spotlessly. I got my first as a gift and have since bought 2 more - very very handy during baking. Wilton makes some good ones and so does Kitchenaid. Browse them here.

- Measuring cups and spoons

Baking is more a science than art. When you are a beginner, its better not to experiment too much with quantities because the first few failures may deter you from continuing. Trust me, I have seen that happen. Stick with simple, easy, no-fail recipes and soon you can start concocting your own. Buy a good set of measuring cups and spoons, you get lots of different kinds, find the cheapest ones if you are not sure if this hobby will stick. You can graduate to kitchen scales later. Even if a recipe you really like has measurements by weight, you can easily convert them online - Google has all the answers.

These are the measuring spoons I use and absolutely love.

- Ingredients

Again, as a beginner, its best to start your journey with easy recipes that don't have hard-to-find ingredients or even expensive ones. Stick to the same ingredients as mentioned in the original recipe, once you get a hang of this baking thing, you can let your creativity run wild.

I started baking at the age of 10 and one of my first successes wast the Apple Crumble Recipe. Since its not an ordinary cake or cookie, there's a wow factor in spite of the ease of baking it.


 Here are some very basic and easy recipes you can start out with:
Eggless Chocolate Melting Moments
Easy Basic Chocolate Brownies
Toblerone Candy Bar Shortbread
Banana Bread

Part II - How to Pre-Heat an Oven