This soft and moist vegan chocolate cake is adapted from the most popular post on my blog- my eggless chocolate cake and cupcake recipe. It is the most tried recipe and has awesome feedback . You can quickly hover over my Facebook page CarveYourCraving reader’s testimonial section to see what our wonderful readers have to say about this recipe and even see their droolicious bakes.
I have been testing cakes since 2 months in my Instant Pot and more than happy to tell you that I found the best ever vegan chocolate cake perfectly done in a pressure cooker/ Instant Pot after 4 trials. I have always baked Vegan chocolate cake in the oven and only once I have tried it on stovetop pressure cooker. They have never failed either ways. The results was always fluffy and moist cake.
With so many settings in an Instant Pot , it took a bit of testing to get the same result. And as I have an Instant Pot 6 qt duo, it doesn’t have a cake button. But you can easily bake a cake in an Instant Pot without a having the cake button settings. Sit back with a cup of coffee as I walk you through my experiments .
Trial 1- I opted to use the Steam option on the IP simply because I have made steamed cakes a few years back in my idli steamer. So the settings used were – 2 cups water in the inner pot. Place the trivet handles folded inside. Start the IP and get the water steaming for 2 minutes. I wanted the IP to heat up before placing the cake so that the baking soda reacts quickly in the heating conditions and the cake fluffs up nicely. Place the cake pan , knob turned to VENT . I didn’t use the IP lid , rather chose to use just basic pan lid so that I could easily check on my cake after 30 minutes . Results- Water evaporated rather quickly. I had to add more 1 cup water towards the end of 10 minutes of baking. It took 35 minutes to bake on steam. How did the cake turn out? I was very happy with the results. I felt I had more control over baking and checking midway rather than guesswork. It had a nice texture. This cake made in the Instant Pot was light, airy and fluffy. Conclusion- So if I had to use this Steam settings for the cake I have to use 3 cups of water . So why did I test more? This recipe was a sure shot winner in one go but I wanted to make it more user friendly. With all the steam coming off for 35 minutes isn’t a convenient setting for many. So I thought I would give it one more try on different setting. Plus there isn’t anything like too much Chocolate Cake!! Trial 2- This time I decided to pressure cook the cake . So the Settings used were- 2 cups water in the inner pot. Place trivet with handles folded . I still opted to steam water in the IP as I did in Trial 1 to create pre heated oven feel . So after gathering my ingredients for the cake I switched on the IP. Steam water on Sautee mode for 3 minutes and placed a non IP lid just to cover the top and get the water warmed up quickly . Once the water started bubbling I placed the cake in the IP. Canceled Sautee. Press MANUAL HIGH 35 minutes , knob closed to the sealing position. Quick Release after 10 minutes. Result – The cake was uncooked from the center. Perhaps it came to pressure soon. Lot of guess work as compared to Trial 1. Not much control over your bake. Conclusion- I should have added 5 more minutes. And may be Natural Pressure Release (NPR) But no worries, we still enjoyed this egg free cake like a pudding cake with a side of ice cream. Trial 3 – Everything same as trial 2 , but for baked for 40 minutes on MANUAL HIGH and Natural Pressure Release NPR for 15 minutes and then release any pressure left doing Quick Release. I didn’t want the cake to sit for too long inside. Results- Lovely bake. Nice and fluffy chocolate cake. Conclusion- Happy with this setting . It gets a Green signal from me. Trial 4- This trial just happened because of my oh so curious mind!! I opted for a cold start. So after the batter was ready, I poured it in my cake pan. Then used MANUAL HIGH setting for 36 minutes, knob turned to the SEALING position.NPR. When the pin dropped I opened the Instant Pot. Results- Again a very nice fluffy bake . Fully cooked from inside and moist too . Conclusion – So this trial really confused me .. lol .. lol !!!! I came to the conclusion that the recipe for the chocolate cake used here is really really forgiving and lives up to my satisfaction in any setting.
I found Trial 4 settings the most convenient and happy with the results too. I even loved the 1st Trial with Steam setting where I have more control over the cake.
Given below is step by step instructions to prepare the pan and the cake followed by the recipe for baking in Instant Pot, stove top pressure cooker and baking. For Instant Pot baking. Start by preparing the pan . I have used Fat Dadio’s 6″ metal pan with 3″ in height. You may use 6″ standard metal or pyrex glass pan . Double the recipe if using a 8″ pan. As shown in the picture below we need to make a foil sling for easy handling of the pan in and out of the IP as well as a foil cover for the pan so that the water doesn’t drip in the pan. For the Foil sling tear a 24 ” long foil and fold it twice lengthwise as shown in the picture below to create a broad belt enough to pick up the pan .
Now that the sling and pan cover is ready , prepare the pan by brushing some oil on the base and sides of the pan and then dusting it with flour. This is done so that the cake doesn’t stick to the pan and can be removed easily. Cut a round parchment paper to go onto the base of the pan. Prepare the batter . Pour it in the pan . Place the pan in the center of the sling. Cover the pan with foil cover. Lift the pan with the help of the sling carefully and place it in the IP . Bake in the Instant Pot according to the recipe. Decorate the cake if desired . You might like the frosting recipes here .
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As I mentioned that this is the best Vegan Chocolate cake in instant pot / pressure cooker / baking , so given below are the instructions for baking and stove top pressure cooking . For baking instructions for this chocolate cake – Refer to my extensive post on – Eggless Chocolate cake and cupcake link here. For 6″ inch pan simply half the recipe mentioned there. For making vegan chocolate cake in Stove top Pressure cooker – Ingredients as mentioned above for a 6″ pan. Follow instructions up to point no. 5 . Procedure – Take out the gasket ring and whistle of the pressure cooker. Preheat the cooker by placing ½ cup of salt inside the cooker . Then put a trivet/ cooker stand inside the pressure cooker and put the lid on .Let the cooker preheat on high for 15 minutes. Place the cake pan carefully inside the cooker, close it with the cooker lid having no whistle or gasket ring on.Or alternatively use a steel lid to cover the cooker. Bake for 40- 50 minutes on low flame , checking at 40 minute mark until the a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or bake for extra few minutes. For Stove top pressure cooker you do not require a foil cover or sling . Just use a pot holder to place the cake inside the cooker. Hope you like this recipe on Best Vegan Chocolate cake in instant pot / pressure cooker / baking and do give it a try. I would love to hear from you. Love being here , don’t miss a single recipe- Subscribe now – it’s free and get every recipe in your inbox.Subscription box is on the home page and below every recipe post.If you have tried any of my recipes do drop in a feedback in the comment section or on my Facebook page carveyourcraving in messages section or tag me @carveyourcraving on instagram. Are we friends yet . Let’s connect on- Facebook| Instagram | Pintrest | Twitter Happy cooking! Do share it with the world! Thanks for stopping by.
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