Rhubarb Instant Pot cake became an instant favorite in our family and I know you’re going to love it too! Ultra-moist and super flavorful, it’s easy to make. If rhubarb isn’t in season, try it with apples.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: You won’t have to turn your oven on to make this unique rhubarb cake.
How long it takes: 1 ½ hours
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, electric mixer, 7 inch metal cake pan, Instant Pot
Servings: 8
I just adore rhubarb. It’s always been a favorite in my family. In fact, we always had a few rhubarb plants growing on the backyard. My mom cooked it into a sweetened sauce that we’d eat it with spoons. Tart but sweet, rhubarb sauce is a great springtime dessert. I love that rhubarb sauce so much that it is one of the first recipes I posted on my site.
About this Rhubarb Instant Pot Cake
- Rhubarb and cardamom go together perfectly. Ever since I paired rhubarb with cardamom in these rhubarb bars, I’ve been smitten with the combination. Try it in strawberry rhubarb crisp, too! The unique taste of cardamom is difficult to describe, but it has a warm flavor with hints of citrus that goes great with other warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
- The cake is very moist and rich. The cake is a dense cake, reminiscent of a great bread pudding. The rhubarb with the butter and brown sugar turns into a sauce that tastes like a rhubarb caramel. It’s perfect drizzled over the cake right before you serve a slice.
- You don’t have to turn on the oven. This unique cake “bakes” in just over an hour in your Instant Pot. You don’t have to heat up your kitchen which is nice for for these warmer days we’ve been having!
Try It With Apples!
If you don’t love rhubarb (I feel like it’s in the love-it-or-hate-it camp with cilantro and beets) or if rhubarb isn’t in season, make this recipe with chopped apples instead.
Suggested Toppings
This Instant Pot cake is great served with ice cream or whipped cream. Try making lightly sweetened homemade whipped cream with a touch of cardamom or cinnamon to perfectly complement this cake.
More Cake Recipes
Recipe
Rhubarb Instant Pot Cake (Rhubarb Upside Down Cake)
Rhubarb Instant Pot cake is ultra-moist, super flavorful, easy to make and even easier to eat. It's great with apples, too.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or full fat recommended)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom (if you prefer, an additional ½ ground cinnamon can be substituted)
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the topping:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (or ground cinnamon)
- 1 ½ cups chopped rhubarb (about 5 rhubarb stalks cut into ½ -inch pieces )
Instructions
- Spray a 7-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Spray parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat ½ cup butter until fluffy. Add sugar and beat again. Add eggs and egg yolk and beat until fluffy. Add yogurt and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
- Add dry ingredients on top (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ½ teaspoon cardamom, nutmeg) and mix them together gently before beating them into the wet ingredients, scraping down sides as needed. Set aside while you make topping.
- In a small bowl, combine melted butter with brown sugar, chopped rhubarb, and ¼ teaspoon cardamom. Spread mixture into the bottom of the prepared cake pan.
- On top of rhubarb mixture, spread cake batter into an even layer (batter will be thick). Cover pan with a paper towel and then wrap tightly with foil.
- In the bottom of a 6-quart Instant Pot insert, add 1 cup of cold water. Place covered cake pan on top of steamer insert and carefully place it in the Instant Pot. Cover the Instant Pot and turn valve to seal. Set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook (or Manual, high pressure) for 60 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, let the Instant Pot naturally release for 10 minutes. Carefully release remaining pressure (quick release) and remove the cake from the Instant Pot.
- Remove foil and paper towel and run a butter knife around the edges of the cake pan. Place a heat-safe plate that has a rim (not a cake stand!) over the cake pan. Holding the plate in place, carefully flip the plate and pan over. Slowly remove cake pan from cake.
Notes
- If rhubarb isn’t in season or you don’t like it, this recipe is also delicious with chopped apples.
- If your cake pan is tall like mine, you can make aluminum foil “handles” for your steamer basket to make it easier to remove the pan when it is finished cooking. Wrap a double-thick piece of foil around the handles of the steamer tray to make them longer so you can use those to lift it out when it’s done cooking.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 402kcal, Carbohydrates: 52g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 116mg, Sodium: 256mg, Potassium: 156mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 33g, Vitamin A: 655IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 111mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I made this cake last night with frozen rhubarb I was gifted.
It is very tasty but super-dense, almost like a Chinese moon cake!
I used a spring-form 7″ pan and found it raw in the middle after 60min + 10 min NPR. I put it back in for 15min +10NPR and it’s fine.
If using frozen rhubarb, be sure to defrost and drain off the extra liquid before mixing the topping.
My first IP dessert so I don’t know of they are all this dense.
Hi! Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you liked it…I think all IP desserts are likely more on the dense side due to the nature of the cooking process. Thanks for the tips about using frozen rhubarb!
Has anyone tried frozen rhubarb?
I have such a soft spot for rhubarb and LOVE that you made this cake in the instant pot! Brilliant!
Thanks Liren!
Made following the recipe, was still raw inside after the instructed 60mins in the IP with release time. Put back in for 20mins high pressure with 20min NR, still questionable if cooked. :(
I’ve tested this cake multiple times and it’s always fully cooked! Are you sure you had the valve turned to seal and not vent, and was the cover securely latched on?
Hi Rachel, I don’t have an instant pot. Can you provide directions for baking in oven?
I have not tried this in the oven, but I anticipate it would take about 45 minutes to an hour in an 8- or 9-inch round cake pan at 350 degrees. I haven’t tested it, so I can’t make promises, but that’s where I would start if I were trying it out. Bake it uncovered (no paper towel or foil). Please let me know if you give it a try!
Thank you Rachel! Yes, I will let you know how it turns out!!
THe recipe looks FABULOUS!! If I don’t have an INSTANT POT, howcan I make it ?in the regular oven?Please advise to my email address
I have not tried this in the oven, but I anticipate it would take about 45 minutes to an hour in an 8- or 9-inch round cake pan at 350 degrees. I haven’t tested it, so I can’t make promises, but that’s where I would start if I were trying it out. Bake it uncovered (no paper towel or foil). Please let me know if you give it a try!
I still haven’t made a dessert in my Instant Pot, but am thinking this would be perfect for Father’s Day because my husband ADORES rhubarb. Great idea, Rachel!
This cakes look amazing! I’ll have to break out my Instant Pot and give this recipe a try.
I hope you love it! It’s so nice to not heat up the whole house with the oven on.
This cake is really yummy. Very moist.
This looks AMAZING, Rachel! And I love that you made it in the Instant Pot!
Thanks so much for sharing the link to my Whipped Cream! xo