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Make a Holiday Orange Spice Cake in the Instant Pot! Total game changer!
Holiday Orange Spice Cake in the Instant Pot!
Last December Irving gave me an Instant Pot for my birthday. It has been on my wish list for months, and Irving had told me to wait for the Black Friday sales, when it would be a fraction of the regular cost. (The benefit of having a birthday the first week of December). After receiving the Instant Pot, the box sat in the living room, right where it was given to me, for weeks. Then the box moved to the bedroom. Then to the pantry. It was Christmas, and I was busy working on recipes to share here, and cookies for school parties. I didn’t have time to experiment with something right then. Or so I told myself. The real issue was that I was slightly terrified of that crazy contraption. I was convinced that I would blow up my entire kitchen if I attempted to use it. So I waited. And waited. And then one weekend in January Irving got it out and said that he was going to figure out how to make beans. I watched, and saw all of the safety features built right into the Instant Pot. Apparently they’ve figured out a way to make pressure cookers that don’t blow up these day—imagine that. Later that week I decided to make another recipe in the Instant Pot, while Irving was home. Another smooth sail. I was ready to venture out on my own. Slowly but surely I’ve started to figure this thing out and no one has been hurt! We’ve instead enjoyed delicious ful mudummas, Mexican rice, and……. Holiday Orange Spice Cake.
This last one here is a real doozy. A cake in a pressure cooker? Surely you must be joking? But I’m not! It’s real, and it’s spectacular! Just look at that perfect crumb texture!
This gorgeous recipe comes from the amazing Kathy Hester, and her book The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for your Instant Pot(purchase on Amazon!). This little cookbook is full of delicious recipes and gorgeous photos, as well as a lot of tips to get you started and build your confidence (apparently I’m not the only one terrified of my kitchen appliance). My fave tip (from the Everything You Need To Know section) is to use the sautee function to bring the temperature up while loading ingredients. It takes a bit of time for the IP to come up to pressure with some of the recipes, so don’t be fooled like I was and see “3 minute rice” and think you’ll be done in 3 minutes. It will likely still take about 30 minutes from start to finish, to build pressure, cook, and release. But…..and this is a big but….it’s hands off time. Once you start it, you can walk away. You can even drive down the street to pick up your kid at school and come back to it, just like a slow cooker. Can’t say that about the stove now, can you?
The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook For Your Instant Pot
The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook For Your Instant Pot is so well thought out. It starts with that really well thought out Everything You Need To Knowsection I was just talking about, and then moves into recipes. The recipes are divided into categories—Quick and Easy Staples, Bean and Lentil Recipes, Whole Grains, Eat Your Vegetables, One Pot Meals, Layered Meals cooked at once, and Decadent and Healthy Desserts. The organization within the recipes is also really detailed. The ingredients are ordered first by when they are used, and secondly in decreasing amounts, like 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. I’m sure that sounds like a crazy detail to have noticed, but I did, and I liked it!
^^^ Improvising with a small silicon cake “pan.”
^^^ Ready for take off.
This yummy Holiday Orange Spice Cake would be a perfect pairing with afternoon tea. It’s slightly dense, and not overly sweet. My kids enjoyed it after school yesterday with a dollop of whipped cream. I also think you could get away with serving it for breakfast, or for a brunch. I chose to use dates and walnuts as my mix ins (walnuts are the only nut that Jonathan can eat). The dates were perfect, as they were little bits of sweetness mixed throughout the cake. I loved digging through with my fork to find each one. Kathy suggests that you mix it up and use whatever dried fruits and nuts you like!
Do you have an Instant Pot? Are you scared to use it? Or are you an Instant Pot master? Let me know in the comments below what your favorite recipes are!
Print Recipe
Holiday Orange Spice Cake in the Instant Pot!
Make a Holiday Orange Spice Cake in the Instant Pot! Total game changer!
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time35 minutes mins
Total Time45 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Kathy Hester
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1¼ cups 150 g whole wheat pastry flour (or *use a gluten-free baking mix)
- 1½ teaspoon 4 g ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
WET INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup 120 ml orange juice with pulp (about 1 medium orange)
- 1/3 cup 80 ml maple syrup or agave nectar
- 2 Tablespoon 14 g ground flaxseeds
- 3 Tablespoon 41 g melted coconut oil (or **use applesauce)
MIX-INS
- 2 Tablespoon 12 g orange zest (or 1 tsp orange extract)
- ¾ cup 75 g dried cranberries or diced dried dates
- ½ cup 55 g chopped walnuts or pecans (omit for nut free option)
Instructions
Oil a 6- or 7-inch (15- or 17.5-cm) Bundt pan and set aside.
For the dry ingredients, mix the flour, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda and cloves in a medium- size mixing bowl.
For the wet ingredients, Combine the juice, syrup, flaxseeds and oil in a large measuring cup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Fold in the mix-ins.
Spread the cake mixture into your prepared pan and cover with foil.
Put the steel insert into your Instant Pot, pour in 1½ cups (355 ml) water and add the stainless steel steam rack with handles that came with your Instant Pot.
If your pan does not fit inside the rack handles, you will need to fashion some handles out of aluminum foil to lower the pan into the cooker. Tear off two pieces of foil about 3 feet (1 m) long, fold each one lengthwise two times. Lay the foil handles out on the counter in a plus sign near your cooker. Place your pan in the center, where the two pieces cross. Pull the handles up and carefully lift the pan into your Instant Pot.
Place the lid on with the steam release handle set to sealing, or closed; cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
Once the pressure indicator goes down, remove the lid, lift out the pan using the foil handles and remove the foil that’s covering the pan.
Let cool so that it cuts easier; it will crumble if cut warm.
Notes
If you don't have a small bundt pan, look around your kitchen and see what else you can use. I happened to have a small silicon cake pan that fit in mine. Be creative!
Recipe from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook For Your Instant Pot © Kathy Hester, 2017. Published by Page Street Publishing Co. Reprinted by permission of the author. Available wherever books are sold.
Try these other great recipes from The Ultimate Cookbook for your Instant Pot:
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