Are you more the sugar loaded beautiful cake mom type ( that you will buy, let’s be honest!) or more the intense, yummy, doesn’t-have-to-look-perfect cake mom? I’m the latter. And that’s the kind of cake I like to make for a birthday, or for any occasion.

This is also the cake I’ll give any shape my kids like. Last year, my 8yo discovered Star Wars, and asked me for an impossible cake to make, one of the cool star ship. I ended up making a chocolate cake in the shape of a Millenium falcon. This chocolate cake is so good, and so easy and fast to make. That’s why I almost always make the same one.

Can I Steam A Cake ?

Yes! And why not !

You know Asians do steam cakes – the cake buns. They also steam dumplings! Fish! Why not us?

Steamed vs. oven baked cakes

The difference between a steamed cake and an oven baked one lies mostly in its taste. I give “intensity +” points to steamed cakes on taste. My tastebuds are just fully on!

There is also a difference in consistency: steamed cakes don’t have a hard crust.

When making cupcakes, I also noticed that my cakes rose much more in the steam cooker than in the oven.

Also, a cake needs a bit less time in the steamer than the oven.

Steaming a cake and glycemic index

When it comes to glycemic index, I can’t say steaming a cake lowers cakes’ GI. A cake needs about the same amount of time cooking in a steam cooker, and I am not sure it would make a difference on the preservation of fibers in a cake.

What I know for sure though is that the more you steam your food the more you will enjoy natural taste, and the less you will like over sweetened foods. That in itself may help lower the amounts of sweeteners in your food, which naturally will lower your food’s glycemic index.

If you want to lower the glycemic index of your cakes, you can replace cane sugar with same amounts of coconut sugar. I also heard about inulin as a good sweetener. I use inulin for yogurt but I never did use it for cakes, so I can’t help there.

This cake is steamed two ways:

Bain Marie

I use the steam cooker as a bain marie, a place to melt my chocolate without exposing it to micro waves ( I don’t use my microwave at all). Super easy: I don’t have to boil water and make sure it over boils while melting the chocolate. I simply turn on the stove and place the bowl in the steam basket, and let it heat up. No additional dishes to wash.

Cooking the Batter into a Cake

I also use the steamer to make the final cake.

The end result is a cake that is softer, more moist. It’s natural tastes comes across stronger. It has no metallic after taste, which I find some cakes cooked in the oven in metallic molds do have.

For some reason I can’t really explain, steamed cakes always have a taste that is more intense than oven cooked cakes. Same cakes, made at the same time, cooked in the different place, get totally different results.

This cake does not rise !

Be aware before you make it that this cake is made of almonds, not grain flour. Even with a bit of baking soda, it does not rise. This is a dense, melty cake, it is not meant to be fluffy. It is delicious just as is!

I sometimes make two cakes and layer them. I add some ground fruit in between for taste. It makes the cake look thicker, but that’s because there are two layers.

Dark chocolate pairs well with fresh fruit

Fresh fruit deco

If you are a dark chocolate lover like me, and like fruit, your probably know that they pair wonderfully together. So when I decorate this cake, I often go simple: I use fresh fruit, either whole, or ground/ mashed. In the picture below, I grounded some fresh raspberries and poured it over the cake before decorating with fresh strawberrurs and blueberries. The family loved it and ate it fast!

Pair with fruit salad

If you don’t decorate, you can make a little fruit salad. This is a classic side dessert in France. In the United States, people bring fruit platter; in France, we make it into a salad, and add a lemon juice dressing. It’s delicious. You can really make it any way like, with seasonal fruit! I like to sprinkle spearmint to give it a scent and some flair.

Pair with Sorbet

Another way to use a fruity touch to your chocolate cake: get some sorbet! Sorbet is a very sweet but also dairy and gluten free ice cream solution. In most stores you can find raspberry and mango sorbet. In some, you can find other flavors ( in a fresh ice cream booth at whole foods for example, I once saw lemon sorbet, one of my favorites!). Talenti is a very good brand of icecream, and they make great sorbet.

Healthy Cake decorations

Besides the fresh fruit solution, you can also sprinkle some shredded coconut like a snow fall, or ground some nuts like pistachio and sprinkle the top of the cake ! You can also use a few chocolate chips for fun!

I find my kids enjoy simple decoration more than fancy looking names on a cake. Although using candy can also be a fun way to write your kids’ name on a cake. And what a joy for them to watch you make the cake, being allowed to lick the spoon, help pour the batter into the mold, help grease it, and give their own suggestions!

Other Dessert or Sweet Snacks Suggestions

For a fruity, gluten free, also almond based cake, try the Lemon and Olive oil almond cake

There are also some little mini treats, like the Chocolate Hazelnuts Einkorn Steamed Bites ! made with ancient grain einkorn, and Orange & Almond Steamed Bites

More chocolate? Try the Candied Orange Peels, A Classic Christmas Treat