Baking cakes in a rice cooker

Hong Kong has many merits, but one thing it lacks is space. And that lack of space extends to one’s home and specifically, the kitchen. My kitchen is functional but small, very small and so rammed with equipment it’s a wonder I can actually cook. But the one thing I am missing, and I think I might have mentioned this before, is an oven. I admit, I probably wouldn’t use it enough to justify having one in the first place, but the absence of one makes me want one more. Sighhhh. So what are you supposed to do if you suddenly want to bake a cake, but have no oven? You turn to your rice-cooker, assuming you have one.

Peanut butter cake with Häagen-Dazs caramel biscuit ice-cream

Bake a cake in a RICE COOKER? What is this madness, I hear you cry! Stay with me guys, it’s the next best thing since sliced bread. (There’s a pun in there somewhere). I didn’t quite realise how useful the rice cooker (RC) could be until I began some research into using one for baking cakes. Several Buzzfeed articles and tonnes of links extolling the virtues of this humble appliance later, I decided ovens were annoying and my RC was the coolest thing on Earth. Experiments began in earnest- I even managed to roast a tiny chicken in my RC once(!). But cakes, ahhhh the sweet, sweet smell of cakes, that was my real triumph and it’s honestly very straightforward to do in the RC. But how do you know when the cake is ready- there’s no timer! This, my friend, is down to pure experimentation, taking slight liberties with timings that recipes recommend and popping the lid of the RC  every now and then to work out if the sponge is cooked through. If you have baked using an oven before, your baking know-how/ baking sixth sense will help you approximate how much time each particular cake needs- it all depends on the ratio of wet to dry ingredients.

The cakes produced using the RC are a combination of steamed and baked. The cake develops a lovely sort of baked exterior, whilst the inside is moist, light and fluffy. Ginger cake and Peanut Butter cake have become the firm favourites in the RC cake repertoire, but I’ve also quite liked a milo and peanut butter variation and a traditional banana cake. Will be trying a lemon cake soon, so watch this space! Recently I posted on Instagram a new cake I baked- coconut, Malteser spread and peanut butter, (yes, PB is a recurring theme, but it tastes so good in cakes). A few of you were asking for a recipe so I will post it below, together with my Ginger cake recipe, as that’s a real winner!

Some of you will wonder if I have a fancy rice cooker. I do not. It’s old now and I only know how to press ON/ KEEP WARM/ OFF. Lol. One press of the ON button is equal to approximately 20 minutes of cooking time. My cakes usually need 3- 4 cycles (around 60- 80 minutes) of cooking time, but you should use your judgement, sneak a peak and use a toothpick to test whether it’s done.

My humble Rice Cooker (excuse the terrible photo and lighting)

Ginger Cake

Ingredients:

100g butter

100g muscovado sugar

100g golden syrup

1 large egg

150ml milk

150g plain flour

3tsp ground ginger

2tsp bicarbonate of soda

1-2 tsp of grated fresh ginger (or however gingery you want it!)

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

Preparation:

1) Melt butter, sugar and syrup in a pan over a gentle heat. Remove from the stove and cool mixture for 5- 10 minutes.

2) Stir egg and milk into the cooled mixture and sift in all the dry ingredients- flour, bicarb of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ground and fresh ginger.

3) Mix thoroughly, ensuring there’s no lumps of flour floating around! The mixture will be quite runny.

4) Grease the rice cooker and then pour the mixture in.

This cake needs 60-80 mins in the RC- depends on how moist you want your cake!

Ginger cake with icing- this was a very slapdash icing!

Coconut, Malteser spread and Peanut Butter Cake

Ingredients:

60g salted butter

120g sugar

1 large egg (beaten)

1 small can of coconut milk (160ml)

20ml milk

125g plain flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp Malteser spread (or equivalent chocolate spread- you can use Nutella!)

2 tbsp peanut butter

Preparation:

1) Melt all the wet ingredients together in a pan (same as for the Ginger cake).

2) Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

3) Add the beaten egg and slowly sift the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.

4) Mix thoroughly and then pour into your greased rice cooker.

This cake needs 60 min, so approx 3 presses of the RC.

Coconut, Malteser and PB cake

And so there you go! Enjoy experimenting!

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