Chocolate Cake for Two
This adorable Instant Pot Chocolate Cake for Two is a decadent mini treat with layers of fluffy chocolate cake and tangy cream cheese frosting. It’s perfect for date night or for a first birthday party smash cake!
We first made a mini Instant Pot chocolate cake for our Instant Pot Baby and Toddler Food Cookbook. We loved it so much that we decided to spruce it up a bit and bring a new layered version to you here.
This recipe is perfect for a Valentine’s Day dessert for two or for a photo-worthy first birthday smash cake.
And it has a fancier touch than your typical cake for two, thanks to a layer of fluffy cream cheese frosting. You can decorate this treat however you like for any occasion, from Valentine’s Day to a birthday.
How to Make Instant Pot Chocolate Cake for Two
This tiny Instant Pot Chocolate Cake recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
The cake is made in an adorable 4×2-inch cake pan.
You can make this chocolate cake in any size of pressure cooker, from the 3-quart Instant Pot mini to a larger 8-quart pressure cooker. For larger sizes, you’ll need to add 1½ cups of water to the cooking pot.
If this is your first time using a sling to bake a cake in your Instant Pot, read our guide on how to make and use a foil sling first.
Tip: We gave this cake a bit of an upgrade with a cream cheese layer in the middle. However, if you want to skip this step, you can! Just reduce the frosting recipe by half.
Ingredient Notes
Many from-scratch Instant Pot cake recipes start with a boxed mix because boxed mixes include leaveners. However, we didn’t want to use a quarter of a cake mix for this recipe.
So we did some research and found a leavening agent in a surprising source: olive oil! You don’t taste it in the finished cake, but your cake will be sad and flat if you leave it out.
To get the most decadent chocolate flavor in this cake recipe, we love King Arthur Flour’s Triple Cocoa Blend. We’ve also had great results with Ghirardelli’s Majestic Cocoa Powder.
Frosting Ideas for Instant Pot Chocolate Cake
We love the combination of coconut cream cheese frosting with the chocolate cake. (We’ve been making this combo for a long time in our oven—you can get that recipe at Barbara Bakes.) However, you can use any of your favorite frosting or ganache recipes.
You’ll only need a small batch to frost and fill this miniature chocolate cake.
If you’re making this cake recipe for a first birthday party, see you can get more smash cake ideas here, with lots of fun and tasty ideas for cake toppings.
More Instant Pot Dessert Recipes
We love making individual desserts in the Instant Pot. Here are more of our favorite miniature cake recipes to try next:
- Instant Pot Robin Eggs Mini Cheesecakes are pastel-colored Easter treats served in mini mason jars!
- Pressure Cooker Pots de Creme are decadently chocolaty mason jar treats for Valentine’s Day or any chocolate craving.
- Brown Rice Date Pudding is a refined, not-too-sweet dessert perfect for chillier weather.
- Healthy Instant Pot Peanut Butter Cups from Tidbits are rich chocolaty sweets that are way better than store-bought!
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Instant Pot Chocolate Cake for Two
Instant Pot Chocolate Cake for Two is a decadent layered treat with olive oil chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting perfect for a first birthday party.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- Nonstick baking spray with flour
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Filling & Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoons sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted and cooled
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted and slightly crushed
Instructions
CAKE
- Coat a 4x2-inch cake pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.
- In a large bowl, whisk the milk, oil, egg yolk, and vanilla until blended. Whisk in the sugar.
- Put a fine mesh strainer over the top of the mixing bowl and sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Shake to sift the ingredients into the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients, and whisk just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Pour 1 cup water into the pressure cooking pot and place a trivet in the bottom. Carefully center the filled pan on a sling and lower the pan onto the trivet. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 13 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release. When the float valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, then invert onto the cooling rack to cool completely.
COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
- Beat together cream cheese, coconut oil, sour cream, and vanilla until blended, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Stir in cooled toasted coconut.
ASSEMBLING CAKE
- Cut the cake in half horizontally. Evenly spread one third of the frosting on the bottom half and carefully stack the second half on top.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Decorate with additional sliced almonds and coconut, optional. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1294Total Fat: 69gSaturated Fat: 33gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 30gCholesterol: 247mgSodium: 544mgCarbohydrates: 149gFiber: 7gSugar: 77gProtein: 22g
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.
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Hello! How can I adjust this recipe for a 6″x3″ pan, that I have? Thank you!
Hi – I haven’t tried it in a 6-inch pan, but you’ll want to double the ingredients for a 6-inch pan and double the cook time too.
I made this, and it was delicious and exactly the right size for two of us to enjoy a guilt-free dessert. I did not frost it, I just topped it with whipped cream. I think it was not high enough to slice horizontally for a two-layer cake.
Thanks Paula! Glad it was a hit.
Is there any chance I could make this in 2 or 3 ramekins?
Hi Colleen – that should work just fine but you’d need to reduce your cook time to about 4 or 5 minutes with a 10 npr. Let me know how it goes.
The recipe calls for a 4×3 pan, but your Amazon link is for a 4×2. Would I have to make any adjustments to the recipe for the slightly smaller pan? Thanks!!
Hi Karen – the 4×2 size is correct. I’ve updated the recipe. Enjoy!
Thank you, Barbara! I’m excited to make this!
I would very much like to make this. What can I substitute for the olive oil? Thank you.
Hi Elsie – vegetable oil or coconut oil should work as well.