Stove top cake baking

Would it be surprising if I tell you that I prefer my stove top baked cakes over the oven baked ones?! I have been baking cakes in a saucepan for years now. They have got a different or might I say better taste, texture and appearance. But then that is my own opinion and I may be a ‘little’ biased about it! I am so used to saucepan cakes’ soft and smooth appearance that I find oven cakes to be a little dry and crumbly. My preference aside I have been asked about the procedure by so many of my Instagram friends who want to learn the old-school style cake baking that I had to do a detailed post about stove top baking!

I have baked numerous different cakes in saucepan and they have all come out brilliantly. Today I am sharing recipe of a simple walnut cake. You can use any recipe to bake a cake in saucepan. Just remember to follow a few tips and you can become an expert stove top baker!

So, lets begin!

Things you need:

1. A round or ring shaped cake pan. An important tip for first time stove top bakers is to use a ring pan. Your cake will never burn at the bottom in a ring pan because these pans have a hole in the middle where cakes normally burn!
2. A thick bottom saucepan with lid which can fit your cake pan without touching sides and has enough space at the top to let the cake rise. Saucepans with glass lids are not suitable for this baking. 
3. A heavy object like the marble mortar that you can see in the picture to be placed on top of the saucepan to prevent the steam from escaping

Optional:

A pan heat diffuser or a thin old ‘tawa’ (you would have one if you are a desi!). You can skip on this if your stove heat can be adjusted really low or you are using a thick bottom saucepan. Not using a diffuser can reduce your cooking time so just be vigilant. Also, baking cakes for too long tend to make them dry so normally I don’t use anything under my saucepan. This cake was a little bigger than what I usually bake so I decided to put a tawa underneath. It took me an hour to bake this cake which is double than that of my normal baking time. So, I would rather not use anything underneath my saucepan. You can decide using or not using one after your first attempt.

Ingredients:

Eggs 2

Sugar powdered ½ cup

Cooking oil ½ cup

All purpose flour (maida) 1 cup

Baking powder 2 tsp

Crushed walnuts ½ cup

Method:

1. Put the saucepan without lid on low heat before you start mixing the batter.
2. Beat egg whites until they are foamy and form soft peaks.
3. Add sugar and mix. Then add cooking oil. Then egg yolks. Finally, add sifted flour and baking powder.
4. Add crushed walnuts with soft hand using a spatula or wooden spoon
5. Put the batter in a greased and floured cake pan. Tap the pan on work surface a few times so that any air bubbles trapped inside come to the surface.
6. Put the pan inside the saucepan. Be sure to wear oven gloves as the saucepan will be hot. Close the lid and put a heavy object on top
7. Keep the flame to the lowest. Check after 20—25 minutes. If needed bake for more time. Cake will be firm on top and will leave the edges of the pan when ready. Insert a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean your cake is ready.
8. Leave cake pan on wire rack. Take out the cake when cooled. Enjoy!