How to Make Cake Without Oven – Homemade Baking

Are you a fan of mouth-watering delicacies and want to try it by your own?

The only problem – well aside from searching and buying ingredients is having the vital piece of equipment necessary for baking. Yes, you got it right – an OVEN!

Me and my sisters are much eager to make cakes, brownies and cupcakes. We love watching cooking shows that features sweet treat, not to mention DC Cupcakes.

You gotta love the measuring, mixing and the vibrant colors of the frostings! But how can you make this happen when all baking instructions start with “Preheat the OVEN…”

A few days back, we agreed to do an experiment and tried baking a chocolate cake using our electric stove.

Here are the ingredients for an easy chocolate cake from  JustEasyRecipes

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
¾ cups cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups sugar
½ cup oil
1 cup boiling water or hot coffee
2 eggs

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two 23cm round cake pans, or one 23x33cm rectangular baking pan, with wax paper. Grease the paper and the sides of the pan well.
2. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.
3. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla essence and beat with an electric mixer for about two minutes. Add the boiling water or coffee and mix until combined.
4. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes.
5. To test if the cake is ready, insert a toothpick into the middle of the pan. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. A single rectangular cake will take slightly longer to bake than two round layers.
6. Slide a knife around the edge of each cake to loosen it from the pan, turn the pan over onto a metal rack and peel off the paper.
7. Let the cake cool completely before covering with icing. For the icing recipes.  I recommend a chocolate buttercream icing or ganache.

How to Make Cake Without Oven : Using Gas Stove

How to Make Cake Without Oven : Using Electric Stove

Try 1: Electric Stove – Mixing Bowl 

Our plan was to put a baking pan inside a larger cooking pot. Unfortunately, we can’t find one. What we did instead is to put the mixing bowl inside the pot since it’s just the right size to fit. This proves to be a bad move. We didn’t realize that the mixing bowl is rather thick compared to the real baking pan. We end up baking the cake for almost 3 hours. Every time we open the pot to see if the cake’s volume has doubled, we’re disappointed and another toothpick down the trash.

We decided to take the mixing bowl and tried getting the cake out – but it won’t. The center was burned and the top was not completely cooked. So instead of having a wasted cake – (still tastes delicious) we scooped it out and put it in a plastic container to be molded. We set it aside since it’s late. The following morning I made a frosting called chocolate ganache.

Here’s the ingredient still from  JustEasyRecipes

Frosting: Chocolate Ganache

Ganache refers to a variety of icing, fillings for pastries and glazes. It is typically made from chocolate and cream. The rich chocolate glaze is normally poured over cakes to create a glossy, beautiful finish.

Ingredients:

284ml cream
1 level tbsp syrup
200g coarsely chopped chocolate (use dark chocolate for the best results)

Method:

1. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Remove the saucepan once boiled.
3. Stir in the syrup.
4. Place the chopped chocolate into a mixing bowl.
5. Pour the heated mixture over the chocolate.
6. Mix until all the chocolate has melted.

Waiting customers, my youngest sis with Pop

Molded the cake in a plastic container since we can't get it out of the bowl

What happened? burnt cake (What an idiot, using a mixing bowl to cook - there's a reason why it's called mixing bowl!) ;>

That night, my bf got a taste of the cake. He asked me to bake him another one. This starts our second attempt using a different method.

Try 2: Gas Stove – Baking Pan

Since they got a very large pot – (the one which witches use  or the one used by chefs when stir frying - wok.) -  we’re lucky! The rectangular baking pan fits. We cooked it for an hour. The only problem is the uneven distribution of heat due to the shape of the pot. It has round-bottom, thus the baking pan was not entirely over the pot. The center portion was not cooked the same as the sides. However it was perfect. I love watching my boyfriends enjoying as he made the frosting (he also made the batter!) His parents and a cousin waited until it was finish (right about midnight) and we got thumbs up!

We didn't took photos for the methods of mixing since it's just the same as with what we did in the first try.

Putting the second layer. Thanks for goldilocks for sponsoring our cake holder .

JR putting some ganache frosting on top of the first layer of out cake

Me frosting the cake. 

I read online that you can use stones to even out the woks round bottom. We’ll try it next time

When we are back in the city, I decided to bake a cake using our electric stove. The good thing about city shopping malls is that they got a wide selection of ingredients. I enjoyed browsing for ingredients to use. The Dutch cocoa was great for my cake. I forgot what brand (update next time). Also bought some cake decorations and nuts.

Try 3: Electric Stove –Baking Pan

This time, I got no one to help! But still enjoyed it as much. Using the same ingredients I put my batter in a baking pan and put it directly over the stove. I almost forgot, cover your pan with an aluminum foil. The baking process was not perfect since the center got slightly burned. I plan to buy a flat aluminum pan to use next time. I’ll put it over the stove before the baking pan.

Here are some photos from my chocolate cake without using an oven. Be creative on your decoration and no will know it's homemade!

Tips:

When frosting, let the cake cool first. You could also set the frosting mixture in the fridge for a couple minutes. You won't get the messy gooey frosting when applying it on the cake.

When baking, check the cake every now and then to see if all portions are cooked well. If not, adjust the pot or whatever you are using accordingly. 

Maybe you can share how you baked your cake even without an OVEN. Did you try using coal or woods? Share it!

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