Bring out the apron, it’s National Baking Week! 🥞🍰🎂
Fancy baking your own showstopper? As The Great British Bake Off is in full swing and its currently National Baking Week – could there be a better time to bring out the apron and get baking?
Taking place between 14 – 20 October every year, National Baking Week is a great opportunity to encourage families to bake at home. So, we thought we’d get involved to find out the cheapest way to cook an iconic chocolate cake by putting four kitchen appliances to the test.
How much does it cost to cook a chocolate cake in an electric oven, slow cooker, air fryer and microwave?
Ready to give it a go? Find the recipes for all four bakes below…
Oven Baked Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 200g self-raising flour
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 200g butter
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Method:
- Heat the oven to 190C/170C/gas mark 5
- Grease two 20cm round sandwich tins with butter and line with baking paper.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until pale.
- Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 20 minutes. (Test it’s ready by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean when ready)
- Leave to cool for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack – once completely cool, your cake is ready for any toppings you’d like to add.
Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 450g caster sugar
- 210g self-raising flour
- 90g cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 250ml milk
- 125ml vegetable oil
- 250ml boiling water
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Oil spray
Method:
- Spray the slow cooker bowl with oil spray, ensuring its all covered.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Pour the cake mixture into the slow cooker.
- Set the slow cooker on “Low” and cook for around 5 hours – or until the cake has no wet spots on the top and has pulled away from the sides.
- Turn off the slow cooker and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Air Fryer Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 50g butter
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 50g flour
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
Method:
- Preheat the air fryer to 160C
- Grease a small 400ml cake pan with butter
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until light and fluffy.
- Pour the mixture into the cake pan, put the cake pan in the air fryer basket and set the timer for 25 minutes.
- Once the timer is done, test it’s ready by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean when it is cooked.
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire wrack – once completely cool, your cake is ready for any toppings you’d like to add.
Microwave Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 175g caster sugar
- 140g plain flour
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 100ml vegetable oil
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
- Grease a 22cm silicone microwaveable cake pan with butter or a little oil (Do not put a metal pan in the microwave).
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until you have a lump-free batter.
- Pour the mixture into the cake pan and gentle tap to remove any air bubbles.
- Cover with cling film and cook on full power (800 watts) for 7 minutes. (Test it’s ready by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean)
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes, remove the cling film, and turn out onto a wire rack – once completely cool, your cake is ready for any toppings you’d like to add.
Our star baker goes to…
Overall, the slow cooker chocolate cake gets our vote! While it wasn’t the cheapest of the four to make, it had an almost fudge cake consistency and was incredibly moist.
Based on time, cost and taste; our vote would go to the air fryer chocolate cake – it tasted very similar to the oven baked cake but cost less than half the price to make.
However, honorary mention goes to the microwave chocolate cake as this was the most surprising! We wouldn’t class it as a showstopper, but it was the cheapest cake to make and is great if you’re in a hurry, as it took less than 10 minutes to make.
Check out our National Baking Week reel on Instagram to see all four cakes and don’t forget to rate our bakes…
Happy baking! Please post any additional recipes you recommend or pictures of cakes you made from these recipes, below in the comments! 👇
Fancy baking your own showstopper? As The Great British Bake Off is in full swing and its currently National Baking Week – could there be a better time to bring out the apron and get baking?
Taking place between 14 – 20 October every year, National Baking Week is a great opportunity to encourage families to bake at home. So, we thought we’d get involved to find out the cheapest way to cook an iconic chocolate cake by putting four kitchen appliances to the test.
How much does it cost to cook a chocolate cake in an electric oven, slow cooker, air fryer and microwave?
Ready to give it a go? Find the recipes for all four bakes below…
Oven Baked Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 200g self-raising flour
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 200g butter
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Method:
- Heat the oven to 190C/170C/gas mark 5
- Grease two 20cm round sandwich tins with butter and line with baking paper.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until pale.
- Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 20 minutes. (Test it’s ready by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean when ready)
- Leave to cool for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack – once completely cool, your cake is ready for any toppings you’d like to add.
Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 450g caster sugar
- 210g self-raising flour
- 90g cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 250ml milk
- 125ml vegetable oil
- 250ml boiling water
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Oil spray
Method:
- Spray the slow cooker bowl with oil spray, ensuring its all covered.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Pour the cake mixture into the slow cooker.
- Set the slow cooker on “Low” and cook for around 5 hours – or until the cake has no wet spots on the top and has pulled away from the sides.
- Turn off the slow cooker and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Air Fryer Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 50g butter
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 50g flour
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
Method:
- Preheat the air fryer to 160C
- Grease a small 400ml cake pan with butter
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until light and fluffy.
- Pour the mixture into the cake pan, put the cake pan in the air fryer basket and set the timer for 25 minutes.
- Once the timer is done, test it’s ready by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean when it is cooked.
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire wrack – once completely cool, your cake is ready for any toppings you’d like to add.
Microwave Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 175g caster sugar
- 140g plain flour
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 100ml vegetable oil
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
- Grease a 22cm silicone microwaveable cake pan with butter or a little oil (Do not put a metal pan in the microwave).
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until you have a lump-free batter.
- Pour the mixture into the cake pan and gentle tap to remove any air bubbles.
- Cover with cling film and cook on full power (800 watts) for 7 minutes. (Test it’s ready by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean)
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes, remove the cling film, and turn out onto a wire rack – once completely cool, your cake is ready for any toppings you’d like to add.
Our star baker goes to…
Overall, the slow cooker chocolate cake gets our vote! While it wasn’t the cheapest of the four to make, it had an almost fudge cake consistency and was incredibly moist.
Based on time, cost and taste; our vote would go to the air fryer chocolate cake – it tasted very similar to the oven baked cake but cost less than half the price to make.
However, honorary mention goes to the microwave chocolate cake as this was the most surprising! We wouldn’t class it as a showstopper, but it was the cheapest cake to make and is great if you’re in a hurry, as it took less than 10 minutes to make.
Check out our National Baking Week reel on Instagram to see all four cakes and don’t forget to rate our bakes…
Happy baking! Please post any additional recipes you recommend or pictures of cakes you made from these recipes, below in the comments! 👇
Last edited by Rebecca; 19-10-22 at 10:20.
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