Did you know you can make a cake in a slow cooker? Many cake recipes are successful in the slow cooker.
For some ideas of what cakes to make, have a look at my post all about baking and making cakes in the slow cooker.
I have lots of other slow cooker cake recipes too, see my slow cooker desserts archives to get them all!
What shape slow cooker do I need to bake a cake?
You can use a round or an oval slow cooker to make a cake. Oval cakes tastes just as good as the round ones so it doesn’t really make much difference apart from the look of the final cake.
A round cake might well be a bit deeper though, so you can slice it in half and fill with jam and cream or icing.
Here’s a photo of a cake I made in a round slow cooker (this one is a slow cooker Victoria sponge filled with jam):
Here’s another cake, this time it is one I made in an oval slow cooker (this is an upside down strawberry cake):
What size slow cooker do I need to make a cake?
I find I get the best results with a 3.5 litre/4 quarts (medium-sized) slow cooker. You can bake the cake directly in the pot with this size slow cooker. A round slow cooker is ideal for that traditional cake shape but as I’ve said, the oval cakes taste amazing too!
If you have a large slow cooker e.g. 5.7 litre or 6.5 litre/6-7 quarts or bigger, then you can put a cake tin inside the slow cooker pot and bake your cake in that.
This will give you a great-looking, round cake! You can either use metal or silicone baking pans.
Note: If cooking direct in the pot with a large slow cooker, make sure you double the quantities for your recipe (if it is for a medium sized slow cooker) to avoid ending up with a flat cake!
I have also made a cake in a 1.5 litre/1-2 quarts (small 1-2 person size) slow cooker.
But I find in this size the cake is more likely to burn before it has cooked through completely. It must be the ratio of contact with the sides of the slow cooker to the small amount of cake mixture you can get into the pot.
So I recommend a medium- or large-sized slow cooker for making cakes.
What do I need to make a cake in my crockpot?
All you need is:
- the ingredients to make your cake (flour, caster sugar, butter, eggs plus anything else required by your recipe, or a cake mix)
- something to line your slow cooker pot with (baking paper or a large cake case, or a cake tin for a large slow cooker)
- a slow cooker
- a thick tea towel (or dish towel, or some squares of kitchen paper) will also be useful to stop drips from falling onto the top of the cake and making it soggy.
How to make a cake in a slow cooker
Make the cake up following your recipe, then line your slow cooker pot.
- I usually use a large cake case, the kind you can get from pound shops or supermarkets in the UK, or on Amazon, as shown in the picture below.
- I use two cases for an extra layer of protection for the cake.
- You can also use baking paper to line your slow cooker. I usually crumple my baking paper up, then open it out again, it is more pliant that way.
- Or you could also cut deep slits in the sides of your parchment, as if if lining a deep baking tin, and arrange it that way.
If you have a big slow cooker which can fit a cake tin, you could also put the cake mixture in a metal or silicone cake tin inside your slow cooker pot.
- Add some water under the tin (in the ceramic pot, never in the metal part!). I normally add about an inch of cold water around/below the tin in the ceramic pot.
- I sometimes put my silicone pans on top of a small upturned saucer or small flat baking tin just to raise them up from the base of the slow cooker.
Pour the cake mixture into the lined pot or into the cake tin. Turn the slow cooker onto high.
Place a clean tea towel under the lid to catch drips, and replace the lid.
Ensure the edges of the tea towel are not hanging down over the slow cooker. I fold mine like this. If your tea towel is larger, fold up the sides onto the top of the lid – never leave them hanging over the sides of the slow cooker, which could be a fire risk.
Cook on high for 1.5 to 2 hours until a skewer or cake tester comes out clean.
- The time it takes to bake a cake in a slow cooker really depends on your slow cooker and whether it runs very hot or not, so keep an eye on it!
- If you have a slow cooker with a metal pot (Sear and Stew or similar) it might take much less time to bake a cake, check after an hour in this case.
- If during cooking you think the edges are burning and the centre of the cake still doesn’t look firm, you could turn your slow cooker onto low for the second hour.
- Or, if you find you have a hotspot where the edge is burning on one side, carefully rotate the slow cooker pot within the slow cooker casing (for a round one) or lift it out and turn it the other way round, for an oval one.
Once the cake is done, turn the slow cooker off and let it cool for ten minutes or so, then carefully pull on the edge of the case or baking paper to remove the cake from the pot. If using a cake tin, remove the tin from the pot, using oven gloves.
Place the cake on a cooling rack to cool fully, just like you would for an oven-baked cake.
If you used a tin, remove the cake from the tin then allow to cool on a rack.
Once cool you can split your cake in half, ice it and so on again as you would with a cake baked in the oven, using your preferred frosting.
Here I simply used Biscoff spread to fill and top the cake.
If you have any questions about making cakes in your slow cooker or want to troubleshoot your last slow cooker cake, just comment here and let me know and I’ll try to help! Tag me on social media if you make a slow cooker cake using my recipes (@bakingqueen74).
If you want to try more baking in your slow cooker, I have lots of tips on baking bread in your crockpot too. For slow cooker tips to make sure every dish is a success make sure you read my guide to using your slow cooker successfully.