how to make cake without oven with step by step photos. soft, moist and delicious eggless chocolate cake made without oven or in pressure cooker.
one of the recipe requests i have got many times is for an eggless chocolate cake recipe in pressure cooker. so thought of adding the recipe.
i have made this chocolate cake many times in an oven. when i had first made this cake, i had made it in the pressure cooker. this recipe is roughly adapted from a chocolate cake recipe which i have been making many years back.
recipe is simple and you do not need any special ingredients. this eggless chocolate cake is made with all purpose flour (maida). do use if possible organic maida or unbleached all purpose flour. you can also prepare this cake with whole wheat flour (atta) as i have made it before with atta. you may need to add some more water if using atta. i will try to share the atta version of this chocolate cake too. you can also check this wheat cake recipe.
the chocolate cake is soft, moist and light and tastes like dutch truffle cake. basically this cake is best had directly from the pan. its so moist that even when you slice you have to slice carefully and only once the icing sets. even without icing the cake tastes good, but i do recommend the chocolate icing, to get the real deal.
cake recipes without oven
- cooker cake – spongy and a soft, light textured delicious egg free sponge cake recipe made in a pressure cooker.
- biscuit cake – this is one of the easiest and yummy cake recipe one can make. this no bake biscuit cake has chocolate in it and tastes too good.
- cucumber cake – a light, nutritious steamed cake made with yellow cucumber, semolina, jaggery and coconut. a traditional recipe from the goan belt and is called as tavsali. in this recipe the cake is steamed instead of baking it.
this chocolate cake can also be made in the oven (details mentioned in the recipe card & the step by step pics below). the recipe uses curd and vinegar. you can also use buttermilk instead of curd. do use any good quality cocoa powder. i have used hershey’s cocoa powder.
few more cake recipes for you!
how to make cake without oven
INGREDIENTS FOR how to make cake without oven
1st mixture for chocolate cake
- 1 cup all purpose flour (maida) OR 125 grams maida
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sugar OR 100 grams sugar
2nd mixture for chocolate cake
- ¼ cup cocoa powder OR 20 grams cocoa powder
- ¼ cup unsalted butter OR 30 grams butter, if using salted butter then skip adding salt
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup water
3rd mixture for chocolate cake
- ¼ cup curd (yogurt or dahi)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract OR ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
icing for chocolate cake
- ¼ cup cocoa powder OR 20 grams cocoa powder
- ¼ cup butter OR 30 grams butter, 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
HOW TO MAKE how to make cake without oven
- grease a baking pan or baking bowl with butter.
first mixture for chocolate cake
- in a bowl, take the flour, salt and sugar.
- mix everything very well with a spoon or wired whisk.
second mixture for chocolate cake
- then in a pan, take butter, oil, cocoa and water.
- keep the pan on a low flame and with a wired whisk, continuously stir so that all the cocoa powder dissolves and the mixture becomes 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 its fine.
- in a 5 or 6 litre pressure cooker, spread 1 cup salt evenly. place the cooker on a low flame.
third mixture for chocolate cake
- in another bowl, take curd, water, vinegar and vanilla extract. mix very well.
- lastly add baking soda.
- mix very well. this mixture will begin to froth.
- immediately add this mixture to the flour+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. gently shake the pan.
- place a rack or stand on the salt layer. place the cake pan on the stand.
- cover with a lid. the rubber gasket and the whistle should be removed.
- bake chocolate cake for 40 to 45 minutes on a low flame. if baking in an oven, then bake in a preheated oven at 350 degree F (approx 177 degree C) 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 chocolate cake is still hot poke a lot of holes in it using a fork or a tooth pick or a wooden skewer. make a lot of holes as this is where the icing seeps into and they cannot be seen once the icing has been cooled.
to make the chocolate icing for cake
- in a saucepan, take butter, vanilla extract,brown sugar, milk and cocoa powder.
- keep the pan on a low flame and with a wired whisk stir 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 icing mixture comes to a boil, then immediately pour it all over the cake. you don't need to spread it as the icing seeps down inside the cake.
- this chocolate cake tastes good warm also, but you cannot slice them and you can just have them directly from the pan.
- you can also cool the chocolate cake in the fridge and then have it. cover the pan with a lid or foil when keeping in the fridge.
- slice and then serve pressure cooker chocolate cake as a sweet dessert.
RECIPE TIPS
- you can use whole wheat flour (atta) also to prepare this cake. if using atta, then sieve the flour once or twice with salt first.
- then 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.
how to make cake without oven
1. grease a baking pan or baking bowl with butter or oil. do make sure that the pan you use should fit inside a 5 or 6 litre pressure cooker.
2. in a bowl, take 1 cup all purpose flour (125 grams) and ¼ teaspoon salt.
3. then add ½ cup sugar (100 grams).
4. mix everything very well with a spoon or wired whisk. keep aside.
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 then skip adding salt in step 1.
6. add ½ cup water.
7. keep the pan on a low flame 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 a low heat.
9. bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously with the whisk.
10. as soon as the chocolate mixture comes to a boil, immediately pour it into the flour mixture.
11. just light mix. if you don’t mix, then also its fine. keep aside.
12. in a 5 or 6 litre cooker, spread 1 cup salt evenly. place the cooker on a low flame.
13. in another small bowl, take ¼ cup fresh curd.
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, do make sure that the baking soda is fresh and active. to check the freshness, just 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.
20. immediately add this mixture to the flour+chocolate mixture.
mixing and making cake without oven
21. with a wired whisk mix very well.
22. however do not over do the mixing.
23. pour into the greased baking tin.
24. gently shake the pan.
25. place a rack or stand on the salt layer.
26. place the cake pan on the stand.
27. close with the cooker’s lid. the rubber gasket (rubber ring) and the whistle should be removed.
28. bake chocolate cake for 40 to 45 minutes on a low flame. if baking in an oven, then bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree celsius/350 degrees fahrenheit for 35 to 40 minutes.
29. check with a tooth pick to see if the cake is done or not. the tooth pick should come out clean. in fact even after 20 to 25 minutes, you can open the lid and check to see if the chocolate cake is done or not.
30. remove the cake pan carefully from the pressure cooker. while the chocolate cake is still hot. poke a lot of holes in it using a fork or a tooth pick or a wooden skewer. make a lot of holes as this is where the icing seeps into and they cannot be seen once the icing has been cooled.
to make the icing for chocolate cake
1. 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.
2. keep the pan on a low flame and with a wired whisk stir very well.
3. the sugar should melt and the cocoa powder should dissolve. keep on stirring continuously to get an even mixture.
4. bring this mixture to a boil.
5. once this icing mixture comes to a boil, then immediately pour it all over the chocolate cake. you don’t need to spread it as the icing seeps down inside the cake.
6. this chocolate cake tastes good warm also, but you cannot slice them and you can just have it directly from the pan. you can also cool the cake in the fridge and then have it. cover the pan with a lid or foil when keeping in the fridge. i kept the cake in the fridge and thus i was able to slice them for the final pics 🙂
7. slice and then serve pressure cooker chocolate cake as a sweet dessert.
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 chocolate 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 chocolate 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
Amazing recipe. The cake tastes so good.
Thanks Sheena
I dont have any baking pan….can i use any ordinary steel pan …and 1 more question i have read a ŕceipe of 3 steps choclate sauce can i use it for icing
you can use a steel pan. make sure its not thin or light as then the cake can get stuck in it. also grease it well with oil. you can use this 3 step chocolate sauce recipe.
Hi dassana,
Made this cake many times but the demand for it is never ending I even made two at a time but still everyone craved for more. Wonderful recipe. Keep it up. God bless you.
Tip: will look more amazing if you sprinkle some colored sprinkle on it with some gems.
Thanx 😉
thanks shweta and welcome. this is a favorite cake in my home too. i know colored sprinkles and gems will looks great on the cake. thanks for sharing the tip.