Instant Pot Apple Cake (video)

Instant Pot Apple Cake is so moist and tender! I made it with fresh apples and full of rich cinnamon flavor! Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or, let it cool and sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.

Do you sometimes find your fridge overwhelmed with too many apples? Or simply tired of enjoying only Instant Pot Cheesecake recipes? Well, look no further! This easy Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Cake recipe is a perfect excuse to use up all of these apples.

How to apply Pan inside the Pot Cooking Method

To make Instant Pot Apple cake, we will be using pan inside the pot method. Below are some key points to remember.

• First of all, we are using the inner pot of the Instant Pot (the one you usually cook in) to hold water only. The inner pot is NOT used to hold the cake.
• For this recipe will use a smaller pan. It’s 7 inches in size and fits inside the inner pot. A springform or removable bottom pan will cause more trouble than a sealed pan because the steam can easily penetrate tiny openings.
• The cake pan should be made out of metal (either stainless steel or aluminum).
• Cover this smaller pan TIGHTLY with foil to keep condensation from the water out of the cake. If the cake isn’t wrapped tightly enough in foil and water manages to get in – you will get a gooey undercooked cake. You can also overwrap the cake with plastic wrap, then over wrap it again with foil. By overwrap, I mean a full wrap over the top, around the bottom, and up over the top then halfway down the side of the pan. Repeat with the foil as an extra precaution.
• Next we will put this smaller pan comfortably on top of the trivet.
• Don’t be surprised if the cake batter is dense and thick. That’s how it should be.
• Finally, the Instant Pot Apple Cake is pressure cooked for 1 hour, followed by natural release method.

What type of cake pan will fit inside your Instant Pot

I made this Instant Pot apple cake in the 8 quart pot. Of course, it can and should be made in the 6 quart IP as well. And here are three cake pan options for both sizes. Just make sure that your cake pan is made out of metal and is NOT ceramic:

• 7 inch Springform Pan that fits Instant Pot
• 7 inch Removable Bottom CakePan
• 7 inch Round Cake Pan 

Note: your 8 inch round cake pan or removable bottom cake pan will fit in the 8 quart pot, however 8 inch spring form one won’t.

I personally think that removable bottom pan is a great option for 2 reasons:

1. First of all, it doesn’t have a clip on the side like a spring form pan, which makes it really easy to fit inside the Instant.
2. Second of all, it allows you to push up the bottom of the pan with the cake resting on.
3. Finally, it causes no damage to the sides of the cake.

Can I use ceramic pan for Instant Pot Apple Cake?

Ceramic pan will not work in this Instant Pot Apple Cake recipe the same way. As you may know ceramic is less heat conductive than metal. Therefore the cake won’t be cooked through all the way.

Fortunately for us, most metal non-ceramic cake pans, like the cake pan used in this Apple Cake Instant Pot recipe, are made either from aluminum or stainless steel. Both of these materials take much less time to heat through than ceramic baking dishes.

I remember a reader who actually attempted to cook this cake inside the ceramic pot. She later reported that the cake batter was still not cooked even after 1 hour of pressure cooking. She had to increase cooking time from 1 to 1.5 hours in order for the cake to cook through.

Why use different rings for making  Instant Pot desserts

When I turned my Instant Pot on with the apple cinnamon cake already in it, the strangest thing happened. It started smelling like a wonderful aroma of cinnamon apples. Wrong! Instead it started smelling like beef stew! I forgot to change the ring! This is exactly why I keep two separate rings: one – for desserts, and the other – for savory dishes.

And while I enjoy the smell of the stew, I would really prefer to smell apple and cinnamon while making a cake.

Are you also making both desserts and savory recipes with your Instant Pot? I recommend to use these BPA free and dishwasher safe genuine Instant Pot rings. That way you will have 2 different rings for those purposes to avoid your cake smelling like a stew!

Prepare the apples

First things first, I covered the apple slices with cinnamon and sugar. Then I went on to prepare the batter.

Prepare the batter

Second of all, I prepared the batter. Once you mix dry and wet ingredients together, you will see that the batter is quite thick. Tat’s completely normal. You might also think that there is not enough of it. And that’s OK too because the batter will expand when pressure cooked.

Next pour half of batter in the cake pan. And now spread half of apples on top of the batter.

Add the remaining batter covering most of the apple pieces. Finally, spread the remaining half apples and any juices on top.

Use aluminum foil to cover the cake pan

Now cover the cake pan tightly with aluminum foil. This is needed to trap the air and prevent excess moisture from getting into the cake.

Next add 1 cup water into the instant pot’s inner pot. Place cake pan wrapped in foil on the trivet. Finally put the trivet with the pan on it into the Instant Pot.

It’s time to put your IP to work! First, press Manual, then High Pressure and set cook time to 60 minutes. Once done, use Natural Pressure release before opening the Instant Pot.

How to enjoy this Instant Pot Apple Cake

I recommend serving Instant Pot Apple Cake warm with a bowl of ice cream. You can also cool it off and sprinkle some powdered sugar on top before serving.

Well, if you love experimenting with your Instant Pot as much as I do, make sure to look into these delicious pressure cooker recipes. All of them have detailed instructions on exactly what to do and step by step photos! So easy!
Instant Pot Country Style Ribs in BBQ Sauce
Instant Pot Cajun Chicken and Rice
Instant Pot Spatchcock Chicken with Mustard Crust
Instant Pot Irish Beef and Guinness Stew

Readers’ images of this Instant Pot Apple Cake

This Instant Pot apple cake has been made many times by readers on Facebook and Pinterest. I thought you would be interested to see what it looks like! Here are the results. Below are some of the images of the cake provided by the readers:

Print Recipe

4.14 from 102 votes

Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Cake

Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Cake is moist and tender, loaded with fresh apples and rich cinnamon flavor! Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or let it cool and sprinkle some powdered sugar on top. The apple cake is made using 7 inch round pan or springform pan right inside your Instant Pot.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: How to make a cake in the Instant Pot, Instant Pot Apple Cake, Instant Pot Dessert

Servings: 8

Author: Olya

Ingredients

Apples

• 2 ½ cups apples, (cored, peeled and diced)
• ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Cake

• 1 ½ cups flour, (one and a half cup)
• ½ tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

You will also need:

• 1 cup water, (to be used in the inner pot)
• Powdered sugar, (to decorate the top of the cake)

Instructions

Apples

• Toss chopped apple slices with cinnamon and 2 tablespoon sugar and set aside.

Cake

• In a large bowl mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients: oil, orange juice, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Mix wet ingredients into dry ones very well. The resulting batter is very thick and will seem like there is not very much of it - that's OK.
  
• Grease a 7” cake pan (that's where the cake will go into).
• Pour half of batter in the cake pan.

  Spread half of apples on top of the batter.
  
• Add the remaining batter covering most of the apple pieces.

  Finally, spread the remaining half of apples and any juices on top.
• Cover the cake pan tightly with aluminum foil. Double wrap it! Cover with saran wrap

Instant Pot

• Have your Instant Pot plugged in and make sure you have the inner pot in. 
• Add 1 cup water to Instant Pot. Place the cake pan wrapped in foil on the trivet and now place both in the Instant Pot.
• Press Manual, then High pressure and set cook time to 60 minutes. Once done use Natural Pressure release before opening the Instant Pot.
• Carefully take the trivet out of the instant pot and remove the foil wrapped caked from the trivet. Next remove the aluminum foil from the cake pan. Now allow the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes and then remove the cake from the pan.
  
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve warm with a bowl of vanilla ice cream!
  

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 275 Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value*

Fat 14g22%

Saturated Fat 11g69%

Cholesterol 40mg13%

Sodium 162mg7%

Potassium 157mg4%

Carbohydrates 35g12%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 27g30%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 95IU2%

Vitamin C 4.3mg5%

Calcium 46mg5%

Iron 0.7mg4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

Video

Notes

Recipe adapted from: Ministry of Curry

My other favorite apple cake recipe is this amazing Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake:

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