A fun instant pot recipe for the whole family, this Instant Pot Strawberry Cake is the simplest cake recipe you will ever make – and you don’t even need to heat up the house to bake it! A delicious summer dessert using fresh strawberries.
Instant Pot Cake Recipe
If you’re reading this post, chances are you’re already an Instant Pot convert.
I love mine, especially when life gets a bit busy and I forget to thaw out ingredients for supper, or have a million things to do and literally need a magical pot to throw ingredients in, ignore it, and then pull out a delicious meal minutes later.
But recently, I’ve been having fun experimenting with developing my own Instant Pot dessert recipes!
While I’ve done a few cheesecakes, my daughter isn’t a huge fan, so I started exploring what else my Instant Pot might be able to do well. It had to be a recipe that benefited from the moisture in the pressure cooker, which excludes a lot of recipes!
After a few failed attempts, I came up with what I think is the best Instant Pot cake recipe, and then because it’s summer and I have like 5 cartons of strawberries in my fridge at all times, I thought I’d toss in some fresh strawberries.
(Frozen would work well, too! Or use your favorite mix-in fruit.)
My Instant Pot is a 4L/4 quart size and this recipe resulted in a small cake with approximately 4 servings. I’ve also given the measurements to double this recipe (below) in case you have a bigger Instant Pot or are serving a bigger crowd.
This recipe is super simple in that you don’t need to follow any ingredient order and you don’t even need to break out an electric mixer. Just whip all ingredients together, fold into your “baking” dish and put in the IP.
And when you finish dinner and go to grab your Instant Pot cake from the IP? You’ll find that the fruit gets soft and sweet, similar to a stewed or caramelized fruit, while the cake is spongy and soft with a simple vanilla flavor. You can adjust this cake with different extracts or mix-in ingredients to make this the perfect cake for you. (Chocolate chips and mint extract? Almond extract and cut up apples?)
I hope your family loves this recipe and I look forward to seeing what creative variations you come up with! Be sure to tag me on social media if you make this Instant Pot Cake – whatever flavor you choose!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Strawberry Cake
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cups milk
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 1 cup strawberries, chopped
This recipe serves 4.
Tip: switch out the fruit or extracts to make this cake your own.
To double this recipe:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2/3 cup butter, softened
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 2 cups strawberries, chopped
Makes 8 servings.
Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
- Instant Pot
- Ceramic baking dish that fits inside IP (I used a Corelle ramekin) – you can also do small individual ones, but that seemed like too much work
- Trivet that came with your IP
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Sharp kitchen knife
How to Make Instant Pot Vanilla Cake
Grease a ramekin or baking dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and baking powder.
Add the milk, butter and vanilla extract. Mix well, then fold in the strawberries.
Place the trivet in the IP and add 1 cup of water.
Place the ramekin/baking dish on the trivet and secure the lid.
Select High Pressure for 12 minutes. Natural release.
NOTE: 12 minutes worked for me and will work for metal containers. However, Pyrex apparently needs additional time. If your container is Pyrex or seems thicker, opt for 20 minutes.
Pin this easy Instant Pot Cake recipe with Strawberries:
Grab your free printable for our Instant Pot Strawberry Cake:
NOTE: 12 minutes worked for me and will work for metal containers. However, Pyrex apparently needs additional time. If your container is Pyrex or seems thicker, opt for 20 minutes.Instant Pot Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
This Instant Pot strawberry cake recipe is super simple and easy to make. It’s perfect to whip up when you just want something sweet but don’t have a ton of time or energy to make something more complicated.
For more delicious Instant Pot recipes, check out our Instant Pot Hawaiian Pot Roast or our Instant Pot Taco Pasta.
Claire says
Mine was only half baked in 12 minutes. So disappointed, stuck it I need for another 12 minutes
Claire says
I put my cake back for another 12 minutes and it was cooked. Looking up accessories I came across a comment that you need to add 5 minutes when using Pyrex, I used a Pyrex bowl so that explains it. My partner really enjoyed it with real whipped cream.
Jennifer Tammy says
Thank you for coming back to share that with me – I will update the instructions with that info!
Rose says
Strawberries are my favorite fruit and I look forward to making this cake. Are there any adjustments that need to be made if I use frozen strawberries? Also there are frozen strawberries with the juice or just the fruit, which one?