ByCarolUpdated
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Instant Pot chocolate bundt cake speaks volumes to me. It is super easy. Super chocolatey. Super moist and fudgie. What more could you ask for? Oh, yes. It’s made in a bundt pan which makes it super cute!
This is a great easy chocolate cake recipe for your Instant Pot collection.
Baking In The Instant Pot
I absolutely adore my Instant Pot. It cooks so many different foods quickly and with added flavor. After making many desserts and main dishes, baking in the Instant Pot was a natural progression for me.
Baking in the pressure cooker is not quick like other foods cooked in it are. Baking takes usually the same amount of time as in an oven.
So why bake in the Instant Pot at all?
For one thing, it doesn’t heat up the kitchen. What a boost for a hot summer day.
The other reason is moisture. Pressure cookers bake with steam so the cake will not dry out. This cake is very fluffy and tender when baked in the pressure cooker.
Plus this was an adventure to bake in the Instant Pot!
Searching For The Best Instant Pot Chocolate Cake Recipe
When I first tried my Instant Pot Banana Bread, the wheels started turning. What other delicious sweet goodies could be made by this wonderful little pressure cooker?
Cake, of course. Not just any cake. I wanted a snack cake. A chocolate snack cake.
A cake that uses cocoa powder instead of baking chocolate.
One that didn’t require any frosting.
Only needed one bowl to mix it up. I didn’t want any extra dishes to wash.
A cake that could be whipped up at a moments notice.
That didn’t need any weird ingredients. A cake recipe where I had all the ingredients in my pantry.
Depression Cake Is The Answer
Depression cake was my answer. The perfect chocolate cake that met all my requirements.
I began researching cakes that only used 1 ½ cups of flour because I knew this cake batter had to be small to fit inside my 6 cup bundt pan.
I stumbled on this recipe for Depression Cake. From what I could gather, it originated during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. No additional information such as who created the original recipe could be found.
I love the simplicity of this chocolate cake recipe. I am sure it came out of necessity because this cake doesn’t have an eggs, milk or butter. Ingredients I am assuming were either scarce or very expensive during the Great Depression.
This simple chocolate cake is also known as Wacky Cake or Crazy Cake. I am guessing due to the fact that it doesn’t require any eggs for the cake to rise. You know, that’s just wacky a cake that can rise without any eggs.
But this Instant Pot chocolate bundt cake recipe turns out beautiful and tastes even better.
Just a dusting of powdered sugar is all this chocolate cake needs to dress it up!
Instant Pot Chocolate Bundt Cake
Tools needed:
- Instant Pot (I use the 6 quart Duo)
- 6 cup bundt pan
- foil sling or OXO sling
- foil (to cover top of bundt pan)
- trivet if not using the OXO sling
Oxo Sling
It is a sling and trivet all in one. I can place my bundt pan or springform pan on it. Attach the handles. Lower the whole thing into my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo. It doesn’t get hot, so removing it from the pot is so much easier.
Not sure what Instant Pot accessories you need? Check out this post on my favorite pans for the Instant Pot.
I highly recommend that you grab one the next time you are in Target or Bed, Bath and Beyond. It replaces the aluminum foil sling. No more water dripping from the foil sling. Yes!
Instant Pot Chocolate Bundt Cake
Carol
This Instant Pot chocolate bundt cake is super easy. Super chocolatey. Super moist and fudgie. What more could you ask for? Oh, yes. It's made in a bundt pan which makes it super cute! Great recipe to have on hand for snacking.
4.37 from 19 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Coming Up To Pressure 15 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 9
Equipment
Instant Pot 6 Quart
6 cup bundt pan
Ingredients
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup water
Instructions
Using cooking spray, grease a 6 cup bundt pan.
Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
Add oil, vinegar and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Using a spoon, mix well.
Add water to the combined ingredients. Stir till batter is smooth.
Pour cake batter into greased 6 cup bundt pan.
Cover top of bundt pan with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Place bundt pan onto Oxo sling or use trivet with aluminum foil sling.
To make foil sling, take a long piece of foil and fold into thirds,lengthwise. Then take foil sling and place bundt pan on top of it. First, place trivet in inner pot of Instant Pot. Then you can lower bundt pan with the foil sling. The foil sling will act as handles to assist with removing the bundt pan out of the pressure cooker.
Place trivet in inner pot if not using OXO sling.
Pour 1 ½ cups of water into the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
Lower bundt pan into Instant Pot.
Lock lid onto Instant Pot. Set valve to sealing.
Press the manual or pressure cook button then set for 30 minutes at high pressure.
Once the timer is completed, release the steam using a quick release. When all the steam has been released and the float valve has completely dropped, remove lid.
Take bundt pan out. Remove foil cover.
Test the cake using a tooth pick to make sure it is done.The toothpoick should come out clean. If necessary, cake can be placed back in the pressure cooker for an additional 5 minutes.
Put bundt pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then release cake from pan onto cooling rack to finish cooling.
Add a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired onto cooled cake.
Keyword chocolate cake, instant pot
Did you make this recipe?Let us know how it was!
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Delicious Instant Pot Meatloaf
- Instant Pot Chicken Chili
I substituted Splenda for the sugar as I needed a recipe suitable for a diabetic. While it isn’t low carb, it is sugar free which in turn reduces the overall carb count. Came out great! I do think I will reduce cooking time by a couple minutes.Reply
I am so glad the cake turned out great! I will have to try using Splenda the next time I make this cake. Thanks for the tip!
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Excellent to know!! I have a newly diagnosed T1D kiddo!!
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Hi Wendy,
Just be sure to check with your child’s doctor that Splenda is a good substitute for sugar for your child’s specific diet. Thanks so much for visiting!Reply
I didn’t have any, but the boyfriend said “5 stars, moist, and tasty.” It was easy to make and it was the first cake that I made in my Instant Pot. I did add a frosting made of melted butter, confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla.Reply
Your frosting sounds like the perfect touch. I’ll have to try that. So glad your boyfriend enjoyed the cake!
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Followed recipe exactly. Unfortunately it was very very dense. I might try and find a recipe that uses SR flour.Reply
It is a dense cake but not overly so. I wonder if your baking soda activated properly. Just a thought.
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This looks amazing! And it looks easy! My favorite combination!
happy day,
karianneReply
Thank you, KariAnne. This cake is one of the best last minute desserts. Top it with some ice cream and hot fudge sauce for an easy last minute treat! Thanks so much for stopping by!
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I have made this cake several times—it is so easy and delicious!Reply
I am so glad you’ve enjoyed the cake. I love having a tried and true recipe!
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I haven’t tried this recipe yet as I am curious if your photos of the cake are truly from an Instapot or from baking in an oven. Over the weekend I tried an Instapot pumpkin spice bundt cake twice and it turned out very dense, not fluffy like your description and picture suggest. I really want to use my bundt pan but don’t want to keep wasting ingredients. Thoughts?
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Hi Betty,
Yes this cake was cooked in my Instant Pot. I have always had great results when using my bundt pan. I have found that when using an Instant Pot, that I have to follow the directions exactly or the recipe won’t work right. It can be a bit finicky. I hope this helps. If you want to try another pumpkin recipe, I have one for pumpkin bread in the Instant Pot that is delicious.Reply
After 40 minutes still raw inside, just tossed it. Any ideas?
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What type of pan did you use? For cakes in the instant pot it really needs to be a bundt pan.
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Yes it was a Bundt pan. So disappointed.
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My only other thought is did you cover it with foil and use the high pressure setting? When I cook rice in the Instant Pot at low pressure it doesn’t cook so I have to use high pressure. I really want this to work for you. The cake is so moist and delicious.
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Yes covered in foil and high temp. I will try it again today. I do appreciate you responding. I even contacted IP to see if something wrong with my IP.
Please let me know how the cake turns out!
Tried it again 36 min, and it came out! It is a dense cake but flavourful! It’s a great recipe for thing you already gave in your pantry! Thank you!Yay!!! I’m so glad it came out good. Thanks so much for the lovely comment. Enjoy your weekend!
I was looking for a cake recipe to try my new little Instant Pot Bundt Pan. This one fit the bill in that I had everything on hand to make it. So so easy to make and super moist. This will definitely be in the desert rotation.Reply
Having all the ingredients in the pantry for this recipe makes it so you can have chocolate cake anytime you want. Thanks so much for the lovely comment.
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Cake is delicious. I made this in an 8qt IP DuoCrisp + Air Fryer. I did need to increase my time by 15 minutes (45 minutes total), natural release for 10minutes, then released remaining pressure. I’m a newbie when it comes to all things IP, but it all worked out with a moist, delicious cake. Did a chocolate ganache for topping – yummReply
I am so glad you enjoyed it. The chocolate ganache sounds like the perfect topping for this cake. Thank you for the lovely comment!
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Question: I did checked the cake after 30 minutes & it was quite liquid (pan was sealed tightly) which is why I added another 15 minutes to the cook time & as I stated the cake came out fine (though more on the dense side). I’m curious, did I maybe do something wrong, or could it be because I’m using an 8qt IP? Also, do you think I could do this recipe using the ‘Bake’ function w/the air fryer lid, & if so any suggestion on time/temp settings?
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Did you use the 6 cup bundt pan? Also, did you use the high pressure setting? That could make for the longer cook time.
I don’t have the air fryer so I can’t comment on the settings for that.
There should not be any cook time difference between the 6 quart and the 8 quart.
Hope this helps!😀Reply
Testing the Bundt pan and high pressure setting. I’m making this cake for Christmas, so I’ll see if I get a different result. Thanks for responding
Debi, this is a great cake for Christmas!
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Love this cake, can you convert the recipe to fit the mini please? Want to make when we travel in our RV. Bought a mini IP and Bundt pan. Thx so much!Reply
Hi Diane,
That’s a great idea. Unfortunately, I don’t own a mini Instant Pot so I wouldn’t be able to test the recipe. That sounds like fun traveling in a RV. I’m sure the mini makes a great addition to your RV kitchen.Reply
Made it before the Browns game this afternoon for the family. A huge hit. It was so easy to prepare and of course, with the Instant Pot, so easy to bake. Thanks. (also made the Banana Bread Recipe earlier this week and that was also 5-stars!Reply
I am so glad that you and your family enjoyed the cake and the banana bread!!! Thank you so much for the lovely comment. I love my Instant Pot.
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Came out perfect! I added instant coffee to the cup of water. I’ll be making this again.Reply
That’s a great idea to add the instant coffee. Thanks for sharing!
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Tried this today. The only thing I had a problem with was getting it out of the pan. I used high pressure for 35 minutes. It wanted to fall apart when I tried taking it out of the pan. I did spray the pan. It tasted great but didn’t look pretty!Reply
I’m glad it tasted good. That’s so frustrating when a pan doesn’t release the cake. Thank you for trying my recipe!
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This cake was phenomenal! I even forgot to cover it with foil and it still came out with a super moist dense brownie. Unfortunately I am having a hard time not going back for seconds and thirds!
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Thank you for trying my recipe! I am so glad you enjoyed it. It’s hard to resist this cake!
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Trying to make this now with everyday ingredients. My pressure cooker said it needed more water and I had to start over. It is loudly hissing for about 7 minutes before yelling for water. Trying now 2 cups, hope it works. This looks good on the site.Reply
Are you using an Instant Pot? If you are using a different brand, then I would use the recommended amount of water the manual says. Or it could be the seal isn’t seated correctly. I hope this worked for you.
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Why do you use vinegar?
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The vinegar adds acidity to the cocoa and baking soda making the cake rise.
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I decided to be different a bake a Puerto Rican rum cake instead. Needed to test the Instant Pot Duo Crisp recently purchased. I followed your baking instructions and my cake came out great. It opened in the center just a bit but no big deal. Thanks for the instructions!Reply
I’m so glad to hear that. Your rum cake sounds wonderful.
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Trying cake now for first time. Only had apple cider vinegar so I used that. Super easy to put together. Hope it turns out. Will pst again when done.
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Carol, Thanks for sharing! I’ve never left a recipe review before and hate when people leave reviews stating all the things they changed 😂 but I did just that today. I used coconut flour instead of white flour, unsweetened applesauce for the oil, chocolate protein powder for the cocoa powder and stevia for baking instead of regular white sugar. I didn’t change the amount of anything and followed everything else to a T. Though the cake is kind of crumbly, it tastes amazing and is pretty healthy. I definitely don’t get the chocolate flavor I was craving but would make this exactly the same again.
Just wanted to show others some healthy options to a great recipe…
Thanks!! 🙂Reply
Thanks, Evie. I love it that you made the recipe work for you. Thanks so much for sharing your changes.
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OMG this was so so good and easy! I made a milk chocolate ganache to cover it and it was a big hit. It’s a keeper for sure. Thank you for sharing this and now I will be trying some of your other recipes.Reply
Chocolate ganache sounds sooo good. Great idea. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake!
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I followed the instructions EXACTLY – used a bundt pan made for the instant pot, covered with foil, cooked on high pressure for 30 minutes and it was so soupy! I tried cooking if for another 5 minutes as suggested with no luck. So disappointed as it looks delicious.Reply
I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. I can’t imagine why. Did your Instant Pot come up to pressure? The cake should have cooked and not been soupy. Sounds as if it didn’t cook. I don’t know. I hope you try it again.
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Excellent! I can’t leave well enough alone, so did 1cup white flour and 1/2cup whole wheat. Also added a big handful of chocolate chips. Cooked it in my new Ninja 701. High pressure for 30 min. It came out perfect. Thanks for the recipe.Reply
Cooked for 30 minutes on high pressure inside a 6 C Bundt pan covered in foil. Released pressure and immediately removed from heat. Looked like cakey pudding when I removed the foil, and the cake had risen so much during cooking that it had spilled into the bottom of the pot through the center hole in Bundt pan. I assumed I had measured ingredients wrong especially soda and vinegar so I tossed the goop and remade the cake making sure measurements were perfect. Added 5 mins to cook time. Unfortunately, it was still gooey after 35 mins. Slightly less than first time. So I added 12 more minutes cooking and 10 mins natural release. Was still not cooked through, soooo……12 mins more. The center is still like pudding although the exterior did firm up.
I appreciate you sharing your recipe, but thought I would share my results since a number of people seem to be having the same problem.Reply
Thank you for the feedback. I am really confused as to why this recipe hasn’t worked for some. There have been mixed results.
I have made this so many times and never had any problems. I use a 6 quart Duo Instant Pot. So I’m not sure if others are using a different brand of pressure cooker which could have different heat settings.Reply
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