Instant Pot Southern Red Velvet Cake
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The Instant Pot transforms Southern desserts with slow-cooked flavor and convenient set-it-and-forget-it ease. It’s perfect for dishes often requiring extensive preparation, like a moist, rich, and stunning Southern red velvet cake!
Can you make cake in the Instant Pot?
Instant Pot baking offers unparalleled convenience and efficiency, ideal for desserts. The consistent heat and moisture retention are perfect for making moist cakes entirely in the Instant Pot from start to finish. It’s a game-changer for Southern cooks and those who love baking but lack time.
How to make cake in the Instant Pot
Baking with an Instant Pot can truly revolutionize the way you prepare desserts, particularly classic Southern treats like red velvet cake. This method is convenient and efficient for busy home cooks, allowing them to simply add the ingredients to the pot and walk away!
The Instant Pot provides consistent heat and effectively retains moisture, which are essential for achieving a moist cake. This approach has proven to be a game-changer for those who love home-baked goods but often find themselves short on time.
- Decide whether to make a single-layer or layered cake. If you choose layers, you will need at least two cakes. Next, grease the cake pan(s) and set aside.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside as well.
- In a third bowl, gradually mix the remaining ingredients before combining them with the wet and dry mixtures.
- Pour the cake batter into a cake pan that fits inside the Instant Pot and cover the pan with a paper towel and aluminum foil.
- Place the cake pan inside the inner pot with water, using an Instant Pot baking sling for easy handling.
- Pressure cook, then check for doneness. Refrigerate, serve, and enjoy!
Here’s how to make Southern red velvet cake the traditional way in the oven.
Checking for doneness
Remove the cake from the Instant Pot once the cooking time is complete and you’ve allowed for a natural pressure release. Then, carefully open the pot. To check if the cake is done, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready!
If the toothpick has uncooked cake batter on it, the cake is not ready yet. In this case, cover the pan again with a paper towel and aluminum foil, and pressure-cook for an additional 10 minutes. Afterward, allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
Decorating a red velvet cake
To pressure cook the red velvet cake in the Instant Pot, use the baking sling handles to carefully remove the pan from the pot once the cooking time is complete.
To decorate a layered red velvet cake, start by frosting the top of one of the cakes and use it as the bottom layer. Remember, this layer of frosting will serve as the inner layer for the cake, so a little frosting goes a long way!
Next, place the second cake on top of the first, inverting it so that the bottom side of this cake is facing up. This will create a flat surface on the top of your cake. Finally, frost the entire stacked cake. To achieve a smooth and clean frosting coat on the outside, use a cake scraper.
Pro tips for cake decorating: Before frosting the cake, trim a thin layer off the bottom and crumble it to create a red velvet cake crumb coating. After frosting, refrigerate the cake for at least 15 minutes to allow the icing to firm up before applying the final crumb coating.
More Instant Pot desserts
The Instant Pot is surprisingly versatile, and it can handle more than just savory dishes. If you’re into Southern desserts and love the set-it-and-forget-it ease of the Instant Pot, here are some classics you can make with that same soul and sweetness, but in half the time: Instant Pot sweet potato pie, banana pudding in the Instant Pot, and Instant Pot banana bread.
Equipment
- Instant Pot electric pressure cooker
- Instant Pot 7.7-inch round pan
- Instant Pot baking sling
- An electric stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer
- Aluminum foil
- Paper towel
- Baker’s cooling rack
- Cake scraper (optional for ease in frosting a layered cake)
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar granulated
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar white
- 4 tablespoons food coloring red (liquid or gel)
- ¾ cup water for the Instant Pot
For the frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened or whipped cream cheese
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Instructions for Southern Black folks red velvet cake
- Grease a cake pan and set it aside.
- Starting with the wet ingredients, combine the buttermilk and vinegar in a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir, and set aside.
- In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, mixing well to blend, and set aside.
- Mix the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until creamy.
- Add the vegetable oil and mix again.
- Add the eggs one by one, beating each one into the butter mixture.
- Then add the mayonnaise and sour cream and mix again.
- Add the red food coloring and mix gently to achieve a batter with an intense red color.
- Next, pour in the vinegar and buttermilk mixture into the red batter.
- Gradually pour in the dry ingredients flour mixture that was set aside.
- Mix until all ingredients are absorbed into the batter, and the mixture is uniform.
- Pour the batter into the greased pan and cover the pan with a paper towel and aluminum foil.
- Open the Instant Pot lid and pour the water into the stainless steel inner pot.
- Place the cake pan into the Instant Pot baking sling and use the handles to easily lower the sling with the cake into the inner pot.
- Close the Instant Pot lid (make sure the valve is up – in the position for sealing) and pressure cook on high for 50 minutes.
- When the cooking time is finished, allow a natural pressure release for at least 25 minutes.
- To open the Instant Pot lid, move the valve to ‘venting’ and manually release any remaining pressure, if applicable.
- Use the baking sling handles to remove the pan from the Instant Pot.
- Test it to see if the cake is done by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready! If it's not ready after the toothpick test, wrap the pan again with a paper towel and aluminum foil, cook for 10 more minutes, and then allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
- Set the cake pan on a baking rack to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Then, carefully turn the cake out of the pan and onto the cooling rack.
- Allow the Southern red velvet cake to cool to room temperature for at least 2 hours before frosting.
Instructions for the cream cheese frosting
- * See my pro tips for frosting a layered red velvet cake and creating a decorative crumb coating in the recipe article.
- Add the cream cheese to a large mixing bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Turn the mixer down to low and add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
- Once the ingredients are combined, turn the mixer up to medium and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Spread the cream cheese frosting onto the cooled red velvet cake.
- Optionally, garnish with chopped pecans, crushed pecans, or red velvet cake crumbs.
- Pro tip: Refrigerating a cake with cream cheese frosting for a few hours will give it a firm texture, making it easy to slice upon serving. Then, slice, serve, and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
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I want to make as much as I can in my Instant Pot. Thank you for this recipe idea!