No Oven Chocolate cake / Stove top Chocolate cake / No butter Chocolate cake

There is no such thing that, those who do not own an oven cannot make cakes at home. This a recipe for all the cake cravers who love to bake cake at home but don't have an oven. I craved for cakes, not for eating, but for baking. I always wanted to make cakes at home. The common method of making pressure cooker cake is by using sand or salt as a base. I couldn't get sand outside my house, also I was not comfortable in using sand in my cooker. So googled few sites and found this method of baking without oven. You can almost bake any cakes using this method. There are no changes to be made in the batter. We are just baking the cake in stove top. Thats the only difference between the oven cakes and stove top cakes.
There are few things to be noted while following this method.
1. You can use 5L pressure cooker or any wide flat bottomed vessel that are big enough which fits the baking pans properly. There should be gap between the baking pan and the pressure cooker.
2. Always use a separator. The baking pan should not be in direct contact with the baking vessel or pressure cooker.
3. Find the perfect lid to close the baking vessel. If your are using the pressure cooker, then remove the safety belt and whistle. I am not comfortable with using the pressure cooker lid. So even if I use pressure cooker for baking, I replace the cooker lid with an ordinary lid that fits perfect.
4. Preheating the cooker for 5 mins in a medium heat is a must. So do not skip the step.
5. As soon as you prepare the batter, bake it immediately.
6. Once you have placed the baking tin inside the cooker, close it properly with the lid. Do not open it in between the required set time for baking. If you do so, then the cake wont bake properly. Because if you open the lid often, cold air enters inside the cooker and the cake takes more time to cook. We should give an undisturbed hot environment for the cake to bake.
7. If the recipe says, 30 mins to bake, then keep an eye on the cake from 25 mins. Because the flame you have set may vary and sometimes bakes the cake faster or slower at times.
8. Always keep the flame in low. If you keep it on high, then your cake may get burnt.
9. The bottom and sides of the cake will be more darker than the top of the cake. This is completely normal in stove top cakes.

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:
Maida- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 cup (powdered)
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder- 1/2 cup
Coffee- 1 tsp(optional)
Baking powder- 1 tsp
Salt- 1/2 tsp

Wet Ingredients:
Water- 1/2 cup
Milk- 1/2 cup
Vinegar- 1 tbsp
Egg- 1
Oil- 1/4 cup
Vanilla flavour- 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Measure the ingredients and keep everything ready.

2. We shall begin by dusting the baking pan. I have used a bundt cake pan. You can even use an ordinary round cake pan. Even though it is a non stick pan, I dusted it as a precaution. First coat the pan with few drops of oil. You can use your hand or brush for coating. Apply the oil all over the sides too.

3. Sprinkle some cocoa powder or maida to the pan and shake it well. so that the flour sticks to the pan. Once the pan is well coated with flour, turn the pan upside down and tap off the excess flour.

4. Take a bowl, and sift the dry ingredients together except the coffee powder. This is a compulsory step.

5. Once you have sifted the dry ingredients, give a complete mix with a spoon. So that the dry ingredients are well combined.

6. In a mixing bowl, crack an egg and add the oil to it.

7. I started pre heating the vessel at this stage. Put the separator in the middle and close the vessel with a suitable lid and switch on the flame to medium and let it to preheat for 5 mins or until we prepare the cake mixture.

8. To the egg and oil,add the milk, vinegar and vanilla, Now beat everything together with a hand whisk. You just need everything to be well combined. Thats it.

9. Heat the water in a sauce pan and add the coffee powder to it. We just need it to be hot. Not a rolling boil.

10. Then add the coffee decoction to the wet ingredients and give a good mix.

11. Now, to the wet ingredients, add the sifted dry ingredients altogether.

12. Using a hand whisk give a mix. Mix it in one direction. Do not overmix the batter. We just need all the flour to be well incorporated with the wet ingredients. Once you find there are no lumps in the batter, then stop whisking it. Finally, using  a spoon give the batter an one time good mix, so that no dry ingredients are stick to the bottom or on the sides.

13. Pour the batter gently on the dusted baking pan. Once you have poured everything, give the baking pan a little tap on the counter. So that the excess air bubbles are released.

14. Now open the lid of the preheated vessel and gently place the baking pan on the separator. Please be careful since the vessel would be very hot at this stage. You can use a holder to place the baking pan.

15. Then immediately close the vessel with the lid and keep the flame in high for 2 mins.

16. Then reduce the flame to low and let it to cook for 20 to 25 mins.

17. My cake was perfect in 20 mins. So keep an eye on the cake from 20 mins. When you insert a toothpick on the centre, it should come out clean. If its not clean, then you need to cook for 5 more mins and then check again.

18. Carefully take out the baking pan from the vessel and allow it to cool for atleast 15 mins.

19. Once the cake is cooled, use a knife and gentle move it over the sides of the baking pan, so that cake comes out easily. Place a plate over the pan and the turn it upside down and tap it. The cake is ready.

You can make frosting of your choice and frost the cake. Or you can leave the cake plain as I did. I served the plain cake with ice cream.

Notes:
1. Dusting the cake pan is very much necessary. It avoids sticking of cake in the pan and for an easy release of the cake from the pan.
2. You can replace the coffee decoction with plain hot water.
3. I just powdered the ordinary sugar in a blender or you can buy readymade powdered sugar.