Name: Instant Pot Chocolate Cake Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 32 min
Total time: 42 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour; 1/2 cup unprocessed sugar ((see notes above)); 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (1/4 cup if using maple syrup for sweetener)); 2 tsp. baking powder; 1/4 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk ((+ 2 tbsp. if necessary for consistency - Use 1/3 cup if using liquid sweetener)); 1/4 cup oil; 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract; 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

This Instant Pot chocolate cake recipe is a wonderful way to enjoy a smaller, homemade cake without turning on the oven.

It’s been a while since I’ve “cleaned up” (adapted for clean eating) somebody else’s recipe. It’s not something I do often. Mostly, when I have a craving for some sort of junk food but don’t want to eat a ton of processed ingredients.

I wanted something that had a small yield so as not to have a ton of leftovers I wouldn’t eat. I also didn’t want to heat up the kitchen with my stove because the house was hot enough with 90 degree weather outside and no air conditioning inside. So I turned to my Instant Pot (and no, I was not paid to promote it.).

I adapted this Instant Pot chocolate cake recipe from Carve Your Craving.

I made this several times and discovered that the texture could be greatly affected by the sweetener used. I’ll share that information with you here so you can make a decision on the outcome you want for your own cake.

DIFFERENT SWEETENERS AND THEIR EFFECTS:

Dry sugar, such as xylitol (which technically isn’t clean, but which I use because of my blood sugar) or an unprocessed sugar such as Sucanat give a much more dense cake. More like a brownie.
Honey will affect the flavor slightly, but will give you a much sweeter cake with a more crumbly texture.
Maple syrup will give you a less sweet cake (which I preferred out of all of them) and definitely a far more dry and crumbly texture.

AMOUNTS OF SWEETER:

Dry sugars – 1/2 cup
Fluid sugars – 1/3 cup

INSTANT POT CHOCOLATE CAKE TOPPING IDEAS:

Strawberries were excellent on this cake!
Other berries will work too.
Nut butter frosting.
Make a simple chocolate ganache using coconut cream and dark chocolate chips in a double boiler.

INSTANT POT CHOCOLATE CAKE FILLING IDEAS:

100% fruit spread (like jam).
Homemade chocolate ganache using coconut cream and chocolate.
Nut butter frosting.
Coconut whipped cream.
Regular whipped cream sweetened with honey.
Apple butter
Sweet potato butter
Persimmon butter
Fig butter

RECIPE NOTES:

With liquid sweetener, I purposely gave an amount that was on the low side in order to keep the sugar content down. The cake will not be overly sweet with these measurements. If you too want to keep the sugar on the low side, you could add 1 tsp. of pure liquid stevia to make the cake a bit sweeter. But if you add any type of frosting or filling, it should be plenty sweet. You can always add a bit more liquid sweetener, but if you add too much, you’ll have a hard time getting your cake to cook completely. So don’t overdo it.

NEED SUPPLIES FOR THIS INSTANT POT CHOCOLATE CAKE? HERE’S WHAT I USED:

Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus Pressure Cooker 9 in 1, 6 Qt, 48 One Touch Programs

Fat Daddio’s Round Cake Pan, 6 x 2 Inch, Silver

Netany 2 Piece Stainless Steel Egg Steamer Rack for Instant Pot Accessories /Steam Rack for Pressure Cooker Accessories

Tebery 4 Pack Cooling Racks Baking Rack – 16″ x 10″

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