Secrets to Great Slow-Cooker Cakes

Bake cakes in your slow cooker? Yes! Free up your oven for other dishes for a meal, keep your kitchen cool on hot days or simply for the fun of it. Here are great tips on how to do it successfully.

• Line Your Slow Cooker Use a piece of parchment paper to line the bottom and sides of your slow cooker. Make it easier to work with by crumpling it loosely before placing the paper in the slow cooker.

• Spray Parchment Paper with Cooking Spray It’s necessary to spray the parchment paper with cooking spray to help the cake release easily after cooking.

• Use a Folded Towel Under the Cover As the cake cooks, condensation builds up on the inside of the cover, causing moisture to drip down on the cake, making it difficult for the cake to cook through. The folded towel will absorb the moisture the cake creates, eliminating this problem.

• Rotate Insert 180 Degrees Many slow cookers have hot spots, where one side of the heating element can cause cakes to burn on that side. To alleviate the problem, rotate the slow cooker insert (with the cover left on) 180 degrees as directed in the recipe.

• Leave the Cover On Each time you lift the lid of a slow cooker, the amount of heat that escapes will cost you about 30 minutes of cooking time. So don’t peek until the cake has cooked for the minimum time given in the recipe. Cover and bake longer if necessary, until the doneness has been reached.

• Cool Cake in Insert The cake is cooled in the insert, usually uncovered. Cool it on a cooling rack so air can get to all sides. Remove the cake from the insert after 10 minutes to finish cooling. Use the parchment paper to lift the cake from the slow cooker.

• Cool As Directed Cakes need time to cool so they won’t be gummy. Refer to the specific directions in each recipe for the proper cooling time.

• Deal with Dark Spots Each slow cooker is different. Dark spots and/or hard edges may happen when using a slow cooker to bake a cake from the insert. If your cake develops these, you can either leave them as is, cover the areas with frosting or cut them off before frosting or serving.