This Instant Pot Chocolate cake is the easiest cake I have ever made!
To make sure we’re no all going to succumb to our cravings and go live in a house made of cake, I decided that we’re only going to eat sweets we cook in the house.
This rule allows me to limit the sweets in our diet, but it’s also a bit of a nuisance given that the kids keep asking for this Instant Pot cake again and again.
Definitely use this Instant Pot chocolate cake recipe for a quick and easy dessert. I know I sure do!
This recipe is also perfect for when you don’t want to use your oven, like in the summer.
Just mix all the ingredients, place inside the Instant Pot and get an amazing cake!
Table of Contents
Recipe video
What if my Instant Pot doesn’t have a Bake Function?
Don’t be disappointed if you can’t find the Bake function on your Instant Pot – some models don’t have it. As you can see from my instructions, I use the pressure cook mode to make this cake, and the result is a soft cake that basically melts in your mouth.
The steam from the pressure cooker setting helps keeps the cake from drying out (which can happen in the oven). So, steam is the main secret behind the softness and luxuriousness of this cake!
More Tricks and Tips
If you haven’t used the Instant Pot for baking before, check out these tips:
- Don’t forget the liquid - for ALL instant pot recipes, including baking, your pot needs enough liquid to build up pressure. Otherwise, you’ll either get an error message or you’ll wait forever to see the pot build pressure.
- Let the pressure release naturally - I know it’s difficult to wait when you can already feel the smell of chocolate goodness but, believe me, it’s worth it! If you release the steam too quickly (using the Quick Release function), you may end up with a flat cake. This can happen because the pot uses steam to heat up and raise the batter.
- Let the cake cool down - I’m sure you already know this, but the cake needs to cool down before you can add frosting or any other topping. Otherwise it will melt and slide right off!
Which cake tin should I use?
Use a 6-inch cake form lined with parchment paper.
If you don’t have a 6-inch pan, you can easily find one online. The cake pan is placed on the trivet (one of the IP standard accessories) which will be placed in the inner pot. The trivet is important because it keeps the cake pan from touching the liquid directly and it will allow you to get the pan out easily once the cooking is done (without burning your fingers).
Cover the cake form with the tin lid or simply with aluminium foil.
Adjustments
If you don’t have a 6-inch cake pan, a 7-inch cake pan can be used as long as it fits in your pressure cooker. A bundt pan can also be used. You should not need to adjust the time for any of these options.
If you have a smaller Instant Pot, you should still be able to make this recipe, as long as you find a cake pan that fits your model. You may need to adjust the amount of water.
If you’d like to make this recipe gluten-free, you can substitute a gluten free all-purpose cup-for-cup flour blend. You could also use almond flour, though it may change the texture a bit.
To take this cake up a notch, I like to add a dash of espresso powder to the batter. It brings out the richness of the chocolate. However, make sure to not overdo it if you’re baking this for kids!
If you really want to diversify, try this delicious Instant Pot brownies recipe.
Serving
Personally, I like to alternate between chocolate frosting and whipped cream with pieces of fruit at the top. But that’s the beauty of this cake! Anyone can do it their own way and you can even employ the help of the kids for this step (although be prepared to lose half of the frosting in the process).
This time I simply sprinkled powdered sugar over it and served it. It was just as delicious as if it had frosting on top!
How to make
Gather the necessary ingredients.
In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt.
Add melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and mix.
Place parchment paper or butter paper into the cake tin.
Pour the batter into your cake tin.
Pour 2 cups of water into your Instant Pot and place the trivet correctly.
Place your cake tin onto the trivet.
Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes.
When cooking time is complete, wait for a natural pressure release and then open the lid.
Take out the cake.
Remove the cover and let your cake cool for about 20 minutes before slicing it.
Sprinkle each slice with icing sugar and enjoy!
Feel free to add your favorite toppings as well 🙂
You can use chocolate chip, sprinkles or anything you like.
More Cake Recipes
Instant Pot Japanese Cheesecake (4 ingredients)
Instant Pot Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup melted butter
- ½ cup milk
- 3 eggs
- icing sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Add melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and mix well.
- Place parchment paper or butter paper into a cake tin.
- Pour the cake mix into the cake tin and cover with the tin lid or aluminium foil.
- Pour 2 cups of water into the Instant Pot and place the trivet on the bottom.
- Place the cake tin onto the trivet and close the Instant Pot lid.
- Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes.
- When cooking time is complete, wait for a natural pressure release.
- Take out the cake and remove the cover (lid or foil).
- Let your cake cool for about 20 minutes.
- Slice the cake, sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!
Nutrition
Video
The Pot-tastic Chocolate Cake Extravaganza
Tried this cake tonight and it turned out amazing. Will definitely make it again. It needs the sprinkling of icing sugar to finish it off.
Great cake and easy to make! I’m new to Instant pot cooking and want to make sure that it was normal for my chocolate cake to take 40 minutes to natural pressure release?
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it can take quite a while. It depends on how full the Instant Pot is but it's in the normal range of 20-40 minutes.
May I use a regular cake pan? Does instapot have there own pan.
You can use any regular cake pan yes. It just has to be the right size to fit inside your instant pot model.
Tried today and did everything as per your recipe…but…mine remained a bit moist on the center and bottom…as if it wasn’t roses well. What could have happened?
It is supposed to be very moist and not rise a lot, so it sounds like it came out well. If it was undercooked in the center, you could add a few minutes to the cook time.
Is it possible that the salt measurement was supposed to be 1/2 teaspoon and not a whole teaspoon? I did everything exactly according to directions and it is inedible :(. I love dark chocolate and don’t mind it not super sweet— Is it possible that lining the pan with foil, rather than parchment paper, changed something? Thanks for any insight…Looks amazing, otherwise!
Hmm, it's supposed to be 1 teaspoon, I don't think that would make that big of a difference. Is it possible you forgot to add sugar or added salt instead of sugar or something like that?
I agree the salt was overwhelming
That's good to know. Consider using kosher salt which is less "salty" than the same amount of finely ground table salt. Also, did you use salted butter? I usually use unsalted butter when baking or reduce the amount of added salt.
Instant pot chocolate cake is prettily and happily giving happiest vision to me
I agree it is sooo delicious ◡̈
Hi Corrie! Thank you for writing up this recipe, it was super useful and very easy to follow, even a year later. I love how the cake turned out, its my favorite kind of chocolate cake: moist, a little dense (not crumbly!), and very rich chocolatey flavor! I found that eating it right out of the pot, although wonderful, yields less sweet flavor than if you allow it to cool before chomping down.
I was wondering, do you think putting something on top of the cake is necessary? Why? I put a lid on mine but I had a little bit of cake top touch it and came off. Is this just to stop water from collecting in the cake?
I have an IP Lux model so the fact you used the normal manual pressure settings was fantastic. I let mine natural release for about 25 minutes, and when I flipped the vent no pressure was released. Is this about how long it should take? Should I have gone for less release time?
I also had to substitute oat milk for cow's milk because I didn't have any on hand, but the cake turned out awesome!
Hi! Thank you so much for your comments. I'm so glad that you love the recipe and I'm also glad to hear that oat milk is a suitable substitute! I don't think putting a lid on the cake is totally necessary, as you mentioned, it's just to stop water from collecting in the cake.
I just made this last night, it was very dense and not very sweet. I did leave it on natural release a bit too long and I am assuming that's what made it more dense. Looking forward to trying again with a few adjustments and more sugar maybe? I did follow the ingredients to a T!
It is a dark almost bittersweet chocolate flavor, so feel free to add more sugar if you like. It would also be good to top with a sweet glaze to balance it out and add sweetness.
I'm not familiar with cups/spoons/teaspoons measurements. Would it be possible for you to add the equivalent in grams please?
Thank you.
Thanks for your suggestion, I may be able to add this in the future. For now, there are many helpful websites to help you convert these measurements to grams, like this one: https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/cooking/cups-grams.php
Do you think I could substitute almond milk for regular milk? (it's what I have one hand)
Thank you kindly.
Yes, that should work fine.