Ever wondered if you can bake a home made cake without an oven? It is easy to bake a cake without an oven and with an equipment we use everyday - pressure cooker. Yes, you heard it right! With our recipe, it is quite easy to bake a basic cake in a pressure cooker without much fuss.
Once you try this home made cake recipe, you would simply think that ovens are so overrated. I'm not saying that ovens are not needed at all, just that to make and enjoy a simple cake at home, you wouldn't need an oven. There are so many instances that one would just crave a spongy, soft, simple piece of cake, but wouldn't be able to eat one simply because they lack an oven. Now, with this home made cake recipe, just throw that worry out of the window and start treating yourself to these simple pleasures of life.
This method of baking can be used for many such similar dishes like chocolate cake, fruit cake and even a savory like handvo. In fact, the traditional handvo vessel is an aluminum container that comes with a base to heat sand. For many years, we have use this method to make a cake at home. It would be a unique doughnut (donut) shaped cake with a hole in the middle.
While baking with pressure cooker, you just need to keep in mind a few points and you are all set to master the most simplest of baking recipes.
- Ensure you use a heavy bottomed cooker or pressure pan made of aluminium/hindalium. They are ideal for conducting the high heat. Steel may not be effective.
- Spread salt or sand at the base of the cooker to amplify the conduction of heat. The cake vessel should not directly come in contact with this.
- Do not use water as we are creating a tandoor type environment.
- Remove the gasket and weight from the lid.
- Avoid washing or rinsing or adding any other liquid/material to the cooker after baking. Let it cool down naturally before attempting to clean it.
Baking is not new in Indian cuisine. Tandoori food that is made using a tandoor (a style of baking) has been around for centuries. So, without much ado, let's just go ahead and bake a simple, delicious and easy home made cake ideal for any occasion that can also be used as a base for making other cake varieties. Learn how to prepare cake at home in a pressure cooker as the method given below uses a pressure cooker/pan and you do not need a microwave oven to make a cake.
Ingredients:
- Plain Flour (Maida) - 1.5 cups (150 g)
- Sugar - 1 cups, powdered (180 g)
- Eggs - 2, at room temperature
- Butter - 1/2 cup softened
- Baking Soda - 1 tsp
- Milk - 1/2 cup (120 ml)
- Vanilla Essence - 2 tsp
- Salt - a pinch
- Crystal Salt/ Sand for base - 1.5 cups
- Use a heavy bottom aluminum cooker or pressure pan.
- Cover the base completely with salt/sand.
- Place a plate over the salt/sand.
- Place a ring/ vessel holder over this.
- Remove the gasket and weight from the lid.
- Let the butter soften until it is mashable with a spoon.
- Combine sugar and butter together using a hand or electric whisk/beater. Whisk well until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift together the maida, salt and baking soda, ensuring no lumps.
- Gradually add this to the egg mixture, alternating with milk. Stop whisking and fold this mixture gently with a spatula until all the batter is fully incorporated and smooth. Do not over beat.
- Add vanilla essence and blend well.
- Take a cake tin and grease it with some butter or oil. Sprinkle some maida on a greased baking tin.
- Pour the prepared mixture into the tin and place it in the prepared pressure cooker over the pot holder/ring.
- Cover the cooker with the lid (without the gasket and weight).
- Bake on low flame for 50-60 minutes.
- To test, put in a knife, it should come out clean, showing that it is fully baked.
- Take it out and let it cool completely.
- Once cooled, invert the cake on a wire rack and let it cool fully before slicing it.
- You can garnish this with icing sugar or whipped cream.
- For a chocolate cake, add 2tbsp of cocoa to the flour mix and sift to remove all lumps. Add an additional 2 tbsp of sugar (optional)
- You can also add choco-chips, nuts and dry fruits to the cake batter while baking.
