How do you bake a cake in a pressure cooker instead of a microwave?

You bake a cake in a pressure cooker by putting the batter in a small pan, covering it, and setting that pan on a rack above water inside the pot so the cake steams under pressure rather than baking in dry heat. A microwave bakes by radiation into the food, while a pressure cooker cooks with steam held at pressure, so the pan, the cover and the rack all matter more than the machine itself.

This site has not tested any pressure cooker and nobody here has baked in one. What follows is what the makers of the five picks in Best Pressure Cookers for Canning and Fast Meals publish about their machines, and what follows from those published features.

Why a pressure cooker is not a microwave

A microwave heats food by agitating water molecules with microwaves, and it does that in an open box with no added moisture. A pressure cooker seals steam inside and raises the boiling point of the water, so the food cooks in a hot, wet environment. That difference decides the method: a cake in a microwave often goes straight into a microwave-safe dish, while a cake in a pressure cooker needs a pan of its own standing clear of the water.

The Instant Pot Duo 6 Qt lists 13 one-touch options, and its published feature list names “decadent cakes” among the things those programs cover. That is the maker stating that cake is a program on the machine, not a claim that this site has run it. The same listing gives the pot a 6-quart capacity and a stainless steel inner pot with a tri-ply bottom, and it includes a stainless steel steamer rack, which is the part you would set the cake pan on.

Nothing in the published features of any of the five picks describes a bake setting in the sense a microwave or a wall oven has one. The cooking is steam under pressure, so the cake rises from the leavening in the batter and sets in the moist heat, and the pan cover keeps condensed water from dripping onto the surface.

The pan, the cover and the rack

The pan has to fit inside the inner pot with room around it for steam to move. The Instant Pot Duo 6 Qt is published at 12.6 inches wide, 13.0 inches deep and 12.2 inches high on the outside, and the Midea 12-in-1 is published at 11.6 inches wide, 11.1 inches deep and 11.6 inches high, so the outside footprint tells you how much counter the machine takes, not how wide a pan it swallows. Makers do not publish inner pot diameters for these picks, so this site cannot give you a pan size from published figures.

Set the pan on the rack, not on the bottom of the pot. The Instant Pot Duo ships with a stainless steel steamer rack, and the Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker includes a canning and cooking rack. The T-fal 22-Quart Aluminum Pressure Canner includes two canning racks. A rack holds the pan above the water so the cake steams evenly instead of sitting in liquid.

Cover the pan. Aluminum foil pressed over the top, or a lid that fits, keeps the steam from condensing on the batter. The Cosori Pressure Cooker 6QT lists a double-layer anti-scalding lid among its 12 safety features, which describes the machine’s own lid, not a cover for your cake pan.

Water in the pot and releasing the steam

Put water in the bottom of the inner pot, below the rack, and keep it below the pan. The makers of these five picks do not publish a water quantity for cake baking, and this site has not compared one, so follow the recipe that comes with your machine rather than a figure from this page. The Presto 01781 includes a 76-page instruction and recipe book, which is where that maker puts its own guidance.

How you release the steam at the end affects a cake. The Instant Pot Duo has an Easy-Release steam switch, and the Cosori 6QT has a Seal/Vent button set away from the steam release valve with a 30 degree backward-angled release. Both are published descriptions of the venting hardware. A slow release lets the cake settle gradually, and a quick release drops the pressure at once, so check your machine’s own instructions for which one the cake program uses.

Steam is the hazard here, not the cake. Keep your hands and face away from the vent when you open it, whichever model you use.

Stovetop canner or electric multi cooker

The five picks split into two kinds of machine. The Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker and the T-fal 22-Quart Aluminum Pressure Canner are stovetop units built around canning, and both are published as usable for pressure cooking as well. The Presto is described as handy as a large capacity pressure cooker, and the T-fal is described as a multi-purpose canner. Neither maker publishes a cake program.

The electric side is the Instant Pot Duo 6 Qt, the Midea 12-in-1 8 Quarts and the Cosori 6QT. The Midea lists 12 functions including pressure cook, saute and steam, and its published features do not name a cake program. The Cosori lists pressure cook, steam, saute and more across its functions, and its published features do not name a cake program either. Only the Instant Pot Duo’s published feature list names cakes among its one-touch options.

For a first attempt, an electric model with a published cake program removes one variable, because the machine runs its own pressure and time. A stovetop canner gives you a much larger chamber: the Presto is published at 23 quarts and the T-fal at 22 quarts, against 6 quarts for the Instant Pot Duo and the Cosori and 8 quarts for the Midea.

Sizes and weights the makers publish

The Presto 01781 is published at 17.5 inches wide, 13.5 inches deep, 15.5 inches high and 12.0 pounds, with a stated capacity of 23 quarts. The T-fal is published at 15.39 inches wide, 19.33 inches deep, 16.26 inches high and 14.77 pounds, at 22 quarts. Both are large, heavy stovetop vessels, and the T-fal’s published feature list notes compatibility with gas and electric coil cooktops, so check your range before you plan around it.

The Instant Pot Duo 6 Qt is published at 12.6 inches wide, 13.0 inches deep, 12.2 inches high and 14.6 pounds, rated 1000 watts at 120 V 60 Hz. The Midea 8 Quarts is published at 11.6 inches wide, 11.1 inches deep and 11.6 inches high, and its maker does not publish a weight. The Cosori 6QT is published at 11.9 pounds, and its maker does not publish width, depth or height.

Those figures describe the outside of each machine. None of them tells you the size of cake pan that fits, because no maker in this guide publishes an inner pot diameter. Measure your own pot before you buy a pan.

Cleanup after a steamed cake

Steam leaves condensation in the pot and sometimes on the rack. The Instant Pot Duo lists a dishwasher-safe lid and inner pot, and the Midea lists a dishwasher-safe inner pot and lid. The Cosori lists a dishwasher-safe lid, a ceramic coating inner pot and dishwasher-safe accessories, plus a 0.5-inch widened pot gap. Those are published cleaning features, and they apply to the machine’s own parts, not to your cake pan.

Wipe the inside of the lid after it cools, since condensed water collects there. Dry the rack before you store it so it does not sit wet against the pot.