Guilt-Free Instant Pot Chocolate Pudding Cake
Rich chocolate cake that you don’t have to feel guilty about indulging in can be made easily in your Instant Pot! This recipe is gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free, but is FULL of chocolate flavor!
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#sorrynotsorry
On the one hand, I could say that this is a dangerous recipe to have because it is SO EASY to make, and only takes four minutes to cook. I mean, really. I have made it four times in the past two days without breaking a sweat.
But this cake doesn’t have to mean wrecking your healthy resolutions and is perfect for my Instant Pot friends with dietary restrictions.
Guilt-Free?
No gluten. No sugar. No dairy.
It may surprise you that considering what is not in this cake, it still has full-on chocolate flavor and feels more like an indulgence than a healthy treat.
The natural sweetness of the applesauce and the chocolate is sufficient to satisfy your sweet tooth. And, even though there is no butter or oil, the cake is incredibly moist and decadent.
So, I don’t feel the least bit bad for sharing this recipe with you. I wouldn’t feel bad either if you make it right away tonight. Or made it for a snack with your kids tomorrow. Or both.
{UPDATE :: Sorry guys! I goofed a little on this one. Blame it on the flu? There is sugar in the cake because of the chocolate morsels! I meant no added sugar, but I see how this was a little misleading. If you wanted a truly sugar-free cake, you could use these chocolate morsels which are sweetened with stevia. Or these chocolate chips which do have sugar, but are dairy and nut free. All in all, I hope it is still a healthier alternative to many after dinner desserts with lots more sugar (here’s looking a you, brownies).}
This recipe is inspired by a similar cake I saw on the Instant Pot community page earlier this week. I contacted the creator about tweaking the recipe– I wanted to try to cut out the sugar and make a bigger cake to feed the many mouths in our home.
The first time I tried the cake was at about ten o’clock at night while my hubby and I were watching a movie. I topped it with fresh whipped cream and knew that I would never need to make a whole pan of brownies again when a chocolate craving hit.
The next day I made another cake to share with some friends who had come over to play. Eight little slices made for a fun surprise after their own cooking fun in our mud kitchen.
Of course, I couldn’t ask a bunch of hungry kids to wait on chocolate cake so I could take a couple of pictures. So that night I made another cake.
Wouldn’t you know, though, I had to make another cake the next morning because it was too dark for pictures by the time my third cake finished cooking. (Short winter days are no friends of food photography).
You can make this cake with the trivet that came with your Instant Pot, or a similar one like this. Raising the cake above the water, and letting the steam cook and settle on top helps to achieve the super moist cake.
I used a 6″ cake pan to cook the cake, but you could also use large ramekin, or even break it up into smaller ramekins. If you change the pans from the recipe, though, you may need to adjust the cooking time. (Add a minute for a thicker cake, etc).
Also, arrowroot is great to have on hand as a thickener to use in place of flour. I like ordering mine from Bob’s Red Mill. (And after 4 cakes, I need to order some more). If a gluten-free cake is not important to you, then you can substitute all-purpose flour for the arrowroot.
Finally, the applesauce is essential to giving the cake its sweetness and to be able to ditch the butter and oils. Making applesauce in your Instant Pot is soooo easy and freezes really well, too.
Guilt-Free Instant Pot Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes high pressure
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Dessert
Description
Rich chocolate cake that you don’t have to feel guilty about indulging in can be made easily in your Instant Pot! This recipe is gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free, but is FULL of chocolate flavor!
Ingredients
- 2/3 C chopped dark chocolate
- 1/2 C applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 C arrowroot
- 3 Tbsp cocoa powder (plus more for dusting)
- powdered sugar for topping (optional)
Instructions
1. Place a trivet inside the Instant Pot and pour in 2 cups of water. Measure the chocolate into a heatproof ramekin, and set on the trivet. Turn the IP on to sauté, and melt the chocolate over the simmering water. Remove ramekin from IP once the chocolate is melted.
2. Combine the applesauce, eggs, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until well blended. Add the dry ingredients (salt through cocoa powder) and slowly mix in until no dry streaks remain. Stir in melted chocolate.
3. Liberally grease a 6″ cake pan with butter or coconut oil. Dust the bottom and sides of the cake pan with cocoa powder. Pour in the cake batter, and set the pan on the trivet above the hot water in the IP.
4. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. Quick release pressure when timer goes off. Remove the cake pan from IP and let cool 10 minutes before transferring to a serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar (optional).
Notes
I cooked this cake for 4 minutes, 5 minutes, and 6 minutes when I was testing the recipe. I settled on 4 minutes high pressure to achieve the soft, “pudding-like” center. If you want a firmer cake, cooked completely through, you can increase the cooking time to 5 or 6 minutes. And don’t forget to let it rest 10 minutes before flipping out onto a plate! The cake will set more as it cools.
You can substitute semi-sweet morsels for the dark chocolate, but it will raise the sugar content.
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Mine also came out as a flat pancake. It seems like a bunch of people are getting this same result. Are you sure you’re not forgetting to list your leavener???
I see why… the original recipe that this above recipe was based on actually calls for GF flour blend … Blend…. there’s leavener in the blends. That’s why your recipe is coming out flat for so many people.
The original recipe suggests arrowroot or GF blend. The eggs and arrowroot provide the lift and binder. The cake is meant to be a rich, slightly denser/fudgy cake.
Can this be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen?
Sure. 🙂
mine came out flat as a pancake? what did I screw up?
So yes my cake came out like a pancake? It needs some sweetener.
I plan to make this tomorrow for company who is gluten free. It looks delicious. Do you think I can use a bundt pan instead of a cake pan?
Great recipe! Thank you so much! So, we melted our chocolate in the microwave instead of using the Instant Pot. The first time we made this, our cake
was not baked at all at the 4-minute mark. It was soupy. So, we put it back on for another 4…and then another 4. Delicious! The next time we
made this, we still melted our chocolate in the micro and then baked it on High Pressure for 11 minutes and let natural release for the 10 you
recommend. Comes out beautifully! Thank you!
I don’t know if anyone sells a bundt cake pan for the Instant Pot, but that would be cool!
I was given this cake at a gathering. It tasted amazing. So I got the recipe. I can’t wait to make this. I don’t have an instant pot though. Fingers crossed.
This turned out as good as you said it would. Everyone that tried it loved it. I am amazed that a cake made in a pressure cooker even works.
Looks like it would be super yummy, and definitely “brownie-like”. I have a question on the nutritional information…what would the saturated fat be for this? Since that is key in WW.
Thanks…
Paula
Paula, I updated the nutritional information to include the saturated fat for your reference.
I covered with lid and cooked mine on top of trivet on manuel for 6 mins, let stand for 2 mins and then let out the steam by venting. It was a little too soft for my liking so I added a bit more water and popped it back in for 3 mins and released stream immediately. Then I let it sit for 10 mins. It turned out pretty good! The texture is like fudge! My girls loved it!
Mine was really gooey on the inside and didn’t firm up much after the 10 minute wait. The edges looked right though. Could I have popped it back in the IP for a few minutes after I had taken it out and noticed it was gooey? It still tasted great – but reminded me of pudding. The flavors were well balanced and very rich. How could I reduce the sugar even more? Could I use JUST cocoa powder? Thoughts?
You can definitely cook things longer once you notice they need more time. As far as reducing the sugar, what else are you thinking of cutting? You could use dark chocolate chips that don’t have added sugar.
Can I use my 6″ springform pan for this?
Sure. That’s a great idea. 🙂
Just a heads up – WalMart now sells sugar-free Dark Chocolate chips…yaaay!
This was SO yummy ? ~ will definitely make again!!
do you cover when in pot with foil or not
I do not cover this dish, but I do cover others like cheesecake and creme brûlée.
Hardly low carb. Plugged the recipe into My Fitness Pal and came up with 40 net carbs per serving (8 servings per cake).
I noticed quite obviously that the blogger of this site would not fess up with a carb count. Does she not care? Is this because it’s really a click bait site? Probably.
Definitely not a click bait site, I never referenced the recipe as low carb. But thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Is there something I could substitute for the applesauce? We can’t have it.
I thought Bout trying banana it works like an oil and also a sweetener and goes well with chocolate. It is a stronger flavor yhough.5
I think pureed prunes with a little water to thin it out would be good. I’m going to try it the next time I make it. I didn’t think this was quite sweet enough and prunes have more sugar so that would help for me.
This is amazing! I have made it 3 times already!! I made it in a 7 inch pan and doubled the recipe. I pressured cooked it for 8 minutes and then quick released pressure after waiting an additional 2 mins post cook time. I also substituted tapioca flour for the arrowroot as that is what I had on hand. It was firm yet moist in center but had a mochi like texture due to the tapioca. However, that’s what we loved most. Thanks so much!!!
Hey, I don’t have this Instant cooker but I’m considering this recipe. Is it safe to use pressure cooker? 🙂
Are you asking about using a stovetop pressure cooker or a different electric pressure cooker? I do not have experience with a stovetop pressure cooker, but I would think it should work fine in a different electric pressure cooker.
Thanks for linking to my site! Keep up the great recipes!
I’m sorry, I didn’t see the nutrition label. How many carbs?
Semi sweet chocolate usually has dairy, whey, or some dairy ingredient in it. Only true, real dark chocolate does not.
There are quite a few non-dairy semi-sweet chocolate chip choices. I get them all of the time for two reasons. One – my oldest child cannot have cow dairy. Two – we keep kosher. Just do a search for kosher parve semi-sweet chocolate chips. Parve means the food has neither meat nor dairy.
Good to know! Thank you Debbie 🙂
I don’t understand something. You mention you are Kosher yet you have recipes with bacon. What gives?
Nancy, I (the owner of this site) am not kosher. And yes, we do enjoy bacon. Maybe you had me confused with another commenter.
If Nancy was asking me, what gives is that bacon can either be left out, or parve bacon bits, or vegetarian ‘bacon’ can be used. Hope that helps!
This recipe looks delicious, but you can’t add eggs to something and then claim it is dairy free.
Eggs aren’t a dairy product.
Eggs are not dairy. Dairy comes from “MILK from mammals”
Any nutritional info available?
I made this today, and it was delicious. Instead of chocolate chips, I chopped up some squares of a chocolate bar with 72% cocoa; the resulting taste was very deep and chocolatey, and not very sweet: which is *exactly* how I like my chocolate!
I cooked it for 4 minutes and cooled for 10 minutes as directed, but it was still quite gooey throughout, so I put it in for an extra 2 minutes — and at that point it was perfect. I had to exert a fair amount of self-control to only eat ¼ of the cake….
Thanks for the recipe!
That sounds great! I want to try it with dark chocolate too!
It tasted okay, but unfortunately mine came out as flat as a pancake and very dense. not like the picture at all, not sure what I did wrong. 🙁
I made this tonight and we’re enjoying it right now. It reminds us of a souffle. Do you have recommendations to increase the amounts for a 7″ pan? I don’t mind that it’s about 1/2″ high but more could be better. LOL ? Thanks for the great recipe.
You could try increasing the recipe by half and increasing the cook time to 6 minutes.
Thank you – I will try that soon.
Mine turned out gooey inside, even though I cooked put it back in and cooked it a couple extra minutes. Maybe I will try cooking it some more. Any helpful thoughts?
I suppose that depends on how gooey you mean. The center is meant to be softer, but it should be cooked through overall. You can try adding a couple of minutes to the cook time next time if you feel it needed additional time. Also, you need to wait the ten minutes to cool before you make a final judgment because the cake will set up more as it cools! 🙂
This looks amazing! Just a tip, your recipe header should say “no sugar added” otherwise it’s a little misleading…. chocolate chips would definitely have a high amount of added sugar in them so I wouldn’t say this recipe is “no sugar”
Can’t wait to try this out!
Thank you for the input. You’re right. I added a note in the post. Sorry for the confusion!
I ran out of arrow root powder. Do you think this would work with tapioca powder which I have on hand? Looks delish!
This looks wonderful..I eat lchf..do you know how many carbs…thanks
Any arrowroot powder subs you recommend? I’m out. 🙁
PS YOU MAKE ME WANT TO ONLY COOK IN MY INSTANT POT FOREVER
You could use all-purpose flour or try a nut flour. If you try a nut flour, comment and let me know how it turns out!
If you used King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour instead of the arrowroot, do you need to add anything else?