What if I tell you that its absolutely possible to make a luscious and indulgent chocolate cake without an oven? And you really don’t have to go anywhere else, because I’ve got just that foolproof Cake Recipe for you. With the recipe of Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake that I have shared on this post, you can easily make a cake sans oven, which is also just as soft, fluffy, moist and delish. The recipe is also eggless.
Why You Will Love This Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake
One of the recipe requests that I have been getting over the years is on how to make a cake without using an oven. So, it was essential for me to add this recipe of a fuss-free stovetop Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake that can be easily done even if you don’t have an oven or don’t want to use it.
I have made this cake many times in an oven. But when I made this the first time, I made it in the pressure cooker. This recipe is roughly adapted from a cake recipe which I have been making from many years.
The recipe of this Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake is simple and you do not need any special ingredients. This eggless cake is made with all-purpose flour (maida). So, use organic or unbleached all-purpose flour, if possible.
You can also prepare this cake with whole wheat flour (atta). Some more water may need to be added, if using whole wheat flour. You can also check this simple and plain Wheat Cake recipe for the same.
Like I mentioned earlier, this Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake is soft, moist and light and tastes somewhat similar to a Dutch truffle cake. Basically, it is best had directly from the pan.
It is so moist that even when you slice, you have to do that carefully and only once the frosting sets. Without the frosting too, the cake tastes good.
This cake can also be made in the oven. I have used curd (yogurt) and vinegar in this preparation.
The curd can be substituted with buttermilk too. I also used Hershey’s cocoa powder. But you can use any other good quality cocoa powder.
The cake has a gooey chocolatey frosting that adds a dimension of richness and fudgy flavors to the cake. You could opt to skip the frosting and only make the cake.
Without the frosting, the cake tastes good, but I would suggest to make this frosting as it simply rounds up the flavors and makes it top notch in this chocolate cake made in pressure cooker.
Other Cake Recipes Without Oven
- Cooker Cake – Spongy and soft, light-textured delicious egg-free sponge cake made in a pressure cooker.
- Biscuit Cake – This is one of the easiest and yummiest cake recipes one can make. This no-bake cake also has chocolate in it and tastes too good.
- Baath Cake – Light, nutritious steamed cake made with yellow cucumber, semolina, jaggery and coconut. A traditional recipe of Goan cuisine where it is also referred to as ‘tavsali.’ In this recipe, the cake is steamed instead of getting baked.
How to make Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake
Preparation & Make Flour Mixture
1. Grease a baking pan or baking bowl with butter or oil. Make sure that the pan you use fits inside a 5 or 6-liter stovetop pressure cooker.
2. In a bowl, take 1 cup all purpose flour (125 grams) and ¼ teaspoon salt. You can also sift the flour prior to mixing it with the other ingredients.
3. Then, add ½ cup sugar (100 grams).
4. Mix everything very well with a spoon or wired whisk. Set aside.
Make Chocolate Mixture
5. Then, in a pan, take ¼ cup unsalted butter (30 grams), ¼ cup oil and ¼ cup cocoa powder (20 grams).
If using salted butter, skip adding salt in step 1.
6. Add ½ cup water.
7. Keep the pan on low heat and with a wired whisk, continuously stir so that all the cocoa powder dissolves and the mixture becomes uniform. There should be no lumps.
8. The butter will start melting on low heat.
9. Bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously with the whisk.
Mixing Chocolate Mixture and Flour Mixture
10. As soon as the chocolate mixture comes to a boil, immediately pour it into the flour mixture.
11. Mix lightly. If you don’t mix, then also its fine. Keep aside.
12. In a 5 or 6-liter cooker, spread 1 cup salt evenly. Place the cooker on low heat.
Make Curd (or Yogurt) Mixture
13. In another small bowl, take ¼ cup fresh curd or yogurt.
14. Add ¼ cup water to the curd.
15. Mix very well.
16. Then, add 1 teaspoon vinegar to it. Mix again.
17. Next, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence.
18. Lastly, add ½ teaspoon baking soda.
Since only baking soda is used, make sure that the baking soda is fresh and active. To check the freshness, dissolve a bit of baking soda in solution of vinegar and water and it should fizz and bubble.
19. Mix very well. This mixture will begin to froth.
Make Batter
20. Immediately, add this mixture to the chocolate-flour mixture.
21. With a wired whisk mix very well making sure there are no tiny lumps.
22. However, do not over do the mixing.
23. Pour the batter into the greased baking tin.
24. Gently, tap and shake the pan.
Making Chocolate Cake In Pressure Cooker
25. Place a rack or stand carefully on the salt layer.
26. Place the cake pan on the stand.
27. Cover and close with the cooker’s lid.
Important: The rubber gasket (rubber ring) and the whistle should be removed before you close the cooker with its lid.
28. Bake the cake on low heat for 40 to 45 minutes.
If baking in an oven, bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C (350 degrees F) for 35 to 40 minutes.
29. Check with a toothpick to see if the cake is done or not. The toothpick should come out clean.
The time for the cake to bake in the pressure cooker will depend on the size and thickness of the cooker, the size of the cake pan and the intensity of stovetop heat.
I have used a heavy 5 litre aluminum pressure cooker and it helps in uniform heating, which results in evenly baked goods.
30. Remove the cake pan carefully from the pressure cooker. While the cake is still hot. Poke a lot of holes in it using a fork or a toothpick or a bamboo skewer.
Make a lot of holes as this is where the frosting seeps into and they cannot be seen once the frosting has been cooled.
Make Chocolate Frosting
31. In a saucepan, take ¼ cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence, 10 tablespoons brown sugar, ¼ cup milk and ¼ cup cocoa powder.
Instead of brown sugar, you can also use regular white sugar or unrefined cane sugar.
32. Keep the pan on low heat and with a wired whisk stir and mix very well to combine the ingredients.
33. The brown sugar granules should completely melt and the cocoa powder should dissolve. Stir continuously to get an even mixture.
34. Bring this mixture to a boil.
35. Once the chocolate frosting mixture comes to a boil, immediately pour it all over the cake. You don’t need to spread it as the frosting seeps down inside the cake.
36. This cake tastes good warm also, but you cannot slice it and you can just eat it directly from the pan with a spoon.
You can also cool the cake in the refrigerator and then eat it. Cover the pan with a lid or foil when refrigerating.
I kept the cake in the refrigerator and thus I was able to slice them for the final pictures.
37. Slice and then serve the Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake as a lovely treat or dessert.
The remaining cake can be refrigerated for about a week. Store in a covered air-tight container and refrigerate.
More Cake Recipes To Try!
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Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Flour Mixture – 1
- 1 cup all purpose flour – 125 grams (maida)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sugar – 100 grams
Liquid Mixture – 2
- ¼ cup cocoa powder – 20 grams
- ¼ cup unsalted butter – 30 grams; if using salted butter then skip adding salt
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup water
Curd Mixture – 3
- ¼ cup Curd (or yogurt)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Chocolate Frosting Mixture
- ¼ cup cocoa powder – 20 grams
- ¼ cup Butter – 30 grams, salted or unsalted
- 10 tablespoons brown sugar – regular sugar can also be used
- ¼ cup milk you can also use cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Instructions
Prep
- Grease a baking pan or baking bowl with softened butter.
Flour Mixture – 1
- In a bowl, take the flour, salt and sugar. You can also sift the flour.
- Mix everything very well with a spoon or wired whisk.
Liquid Mixture – 2
- Then in a small pan, take the butter, oil, cocoa and water.
- Keep the pan on a low heat and with a wired whisk, continuously stir so that all the cocoa powder dissolves and the mixture becomes even and uniform. There should be no lumps.
- Bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously with the whisk.
- As soon as the chocolate mixture comes to a boil, immediately pour it into the flour mixture.
- Just light mix. If you don't mix then also it is fine.
- In a 5 or 6 litre stovetop pressure cooker, spread 1 cup salt evenly. Place the cooker on a low heat to preheat it.
Curd Mixture – 3
- In another bowl, take curd (or yogurt), water, vinegar and vanilla extract. Mix very well.
- Lastly add baking soda.
- Mix thoroughly. This mixture will begin to froth.
- Immediately add this mixture to the flour and chocolate mixture.
Mixing and making cake without oven
- With a wired whisk mix very well. However do not over do the mixing.
- Pour into the greased baking tin or pan. Gently shake and tap the pan.
- Carefully, place a rack or stand on the salt layer. Place the cake pan on the stand.
- Cover and close cooker with its lid. The rubber gasket and the whistle should be removed before you place and close the lid on the cooker.
- Bake cake for 40 to 45 minutes on a low heat. If baking in an oven, then bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C (356 degrees F) for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Check with a tooth pick to see if the cake is done or not. The tooth pick should come out clean.
- Remove the cake pan carefully from the pressure cooker. While the cake is still hot poke a lot of holes in it using a fork or a toothpick or a bamboo skewer. Make a lot of holes as this is where the frosting seeps into and they cannot be seen once the frosting has been cooled and is set.
Making the chocolate frosting
- In a saucepan, take butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar, milk and cocoa powder.
- Keep the pan on a low heat and with a wired whisk stir and mix very well. The sugar should melt and the cocoa powder should dissolve. Keep on stirring continuously to get an even mixture.
- Bring this mixture to a boil.
- Once this frosting mixture comes to a boil, then immediately pour it all over the cake. You don't need to spread it as the frosting seeps down inside the cake.
- This cake tastes good warm also, but you cannot slice it but you can just eat it directly from the pan.
- You can also cool the cake in the fridge and then enjoy it. Cover the pan with a lid or foil when keeping in the fridge.
- Once the frosting has set, slice the cake and serve.
- Store the cake in the refrigerator covered in an air-tight container. The cake keeps well in the fridge for about a week.
Notes
- You can use whole wheat flour (atta) also to prepare this cake. If using whole wheat flour, then sift the flour once or twice with salt first.
- For whole wheat flour, use ⅔ to ¾ cup water in the second mixture. The amount of water to be added depends on the quality of whole wheat flour. So you can keep some hot water handy, in case the batter becomes too thick.
- Instead of brown sugar, you can use regular granulated sugar or raw sugar.
- You could use salted butter, but do not add salt in the cake.
- Keep in mind that the time taken for the cake to bake in the stovetop pressure cooker will depend on the size & thickness of the cooker, the size of the cake pan and the intensity of stovetop heat.
- Nutrition info is for one slice of cake.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Pressure Cooker Chocolate Cake from the archives was first published on December 2016. It has been updated and republished on May 2024.
Namaste 🙏
Thank you for the recipe. Please advise if I can use the instant pot instead of the stovetop pressure cooker.
Namaste. I do use Instant Pot, but have never made a cake in it. Using it will be more like steaming the cake and not using the dry cooking technique as we do when baking cake in an oven or with a stovetop pressure cooker, without water being added.
So I am not sure how this cake will turn out in the Instant Pot. You can try though, but I cannot speak for the results. I am sorry I am unable to help you here.
It is so moisture and juicy i like it a lot, thank you!
Thanks and welcome.
Namaste Dassana ma’am!! My mom and I had tried this amazing chocolate cake for my dad’s birthday and as a beginners at baking we very surprised as to how the cake turned out to be so moist and delicious. My dad was equally surprised and loved the cake. The best part about your recipes are the most detailed information and the step by step pictures that you provide for our reference and that really helped us sail through and made the baking process a lot more fun. We had already baked the banana bread last week which was also a big hit and our next stop is the Sour cream coffee cake.
Hope to come across more exciting recipes and share our experiences while making them.
Namaste Shrishti. Thanks for this lovely feedback and experience. Happy to read and know that everyone at your home liked the cake. I am also glad that the detailed stepwise photos are helpful. Thanks for the feedback on the banana bread too. Yes, do let me know when a recipe goes well or when it does not go well. Happy Baking.
Hello mam
1. Can I use white sugar instead of brown sugar for icing?
2. What’s the difference between this recipe and chocolate cake in oven recipe?
Yes, you can. Both the recipes are very different. This is a moist and fudgy cake. The oven one is a soft and spongy cake.
is there any substitute for oil that i can use?
use butter. so add 1/4th cup butter instead of oil. thus overall you will need to add 1/2 cup butter.
One more question.Can we use baking powder instead of baking soda and can u tell me a butter substitute as i usually do not have butter available at home
baking soda is required in the cake recipe. so it cannot be substituted with baking powder. instead of butter, you can use any neutral tasting oil like sunflower oil. another option is to use olive oil, but the aroma of olive oil will be there.
Hi Dassana i made this cake today it was spongy and moist but it had slight bitterness in it. Also the icing turned hard when it cooled down !!! Can u plz tell me how to prevent this.
hi shubha, the bitterness could be due to the quality of cocoa powder or butter. icing has turned hard as it was cooked more and thus the sugar has got cooked too much. the sugar on cooling thus has crystallized and hence the icing being hard. just cook icing till it begins to boil and then immediately remove from fire. cook the icing mixture on a low to medium-low flame. use a good quality cocoa powder. for the butter do check its aroma. if the aroma is slightly stale or not fresh, then avoid adding this butter as it will give a bitter taste in the cake. hope these suggestions help.
Hi Dassana,
The cake looks very good, and I wanted to try making i. I just wanted to ask why do you have to put the cake pan on top of a salt layer?
just to provide a layer so that the cake does not get burnt. thanks.
Hi Dassana,
I mostly visit your website first to check out recipes that I need. I really appreciate your candid manner of writing and the efforts you put in to photograph and publish the recipes so beautifully.
Im very new to baking.
I prepared the cooker cake in an electric cooker, just for trial and it turned out really well! Also got appreciations, thanks to you.
I’m glad that the comments section is easily available now. I’ll keep coming back!
thanks a lot hamsa. so glad to read your comment. yes we had removed the comments section as we were having some technical issues which we were not able to solve for a few months. sure, you can always give feedback or share any concerns or issues if you had with any recipe.
Hi Dassana, I’m planning to make this again but in greater quantity. Please let me know whether this recipe can be doubled.
hi hamsa, you can double this recipe. it will take more time to bake.
Hello mam plz tell me white sugar quantity measurement according to cup
use the same measurement as mentioned in the recipe which is ½ cup sugar and 10 tablespoons white sugar for icing.
The cake came out very well but it was very bitter if eaten without an ice cream. Sugar ratio is not right for this much cocoa powder I think.
But otherwise the softness and overall came out very well.
pallavi bitterness could be due to the type and quality of cocoa powder used and butter. for butter if it becomes rancid, then the cake will become butter. the amount of cocoa powder is not much, so i don’t think cocoa powder is the cause. while making cakes with butter always use fresh butter. it should have any off smell or a rancid smell. the taste should be sweet like butter and not bitter. bitterness can also be due to oil. oils like cold pressed peanut oil or sesame oil can give a bitter taste. sugar proportion is right for this recipe as icing is also added. curd can also be bitter if it is old and not fresh.
Thank you for the response.
Welcome Pallavi