How to Make a Chocolate Bundt Cake on the Stovetop

Yes, you can totally bake a cake without an oven. We’re new to the concept of stovetop baking, too, but turns out that ovenless chocolate Bundt cake is not only possible — it’s a cakewalk. And the texture is amazing. And you don’t need a special stovetop cake pan — just your trusty Bundt pan and a pot big enough to hold it.

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You already know we’re crazy about no-bake desserts — because we’re so not willing to skip dessert just because dinner is in the oven. (Or because it’s 100 degrees out and we don’t want to turn on the oven at all.) And we’ve seen lots of people making stuffing in Bundt pans on the stove because the Thanksgiving turkey is taking up all the space in the oven. So we thought, if you can do it with stuffing, why can’t you do it with cake?

Turns out, steaming is a super common way of cooking cakes in Asia, and for good reason; the result is some of the fluffiest, spongiest, softest, moistest cake we’ve ever tasted. And making a steamed no-bake cake is as easy as fixing up a box of store-bought cake mix (you can totally make your own cake batter from scratch, too), pouring it into a Bundt pan set over a pot of simmering water, then covering that with a tea towel and lid and letting it steam away.

The best part is flipping over the Bundt pan for the big reveal. And the icing on the cake is that you can decorate it any way you like — powdered sugar, ganache, chocolate sauce, cocoa powder, or caramel would all be awesome. (Not crazy about chocolate? Well, you’re some kinda crazy — but you can still make this recipe with any other flavor of cake mix, of course.)

See? You really don’t need an oven to bake a cake! You actually don’t even need a stove, either; if all of your burners are being used for other dishes, this recipe would work just as well with a hot plate on the countertop. So now that you basically have no excuse not eat cake, it’s time to get steamy in the kitchen and make a delicious stove top cake.

Stovetop Chocolate Bundt Cake


Serves 10
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • one package cake mix
  • other ingredients called for in the cake mix package instructions (eggs, milk, oil, etc.)
  • desired toppings (powdered sugar, icing, etc.)

Equipment

  • Bundt pan
  • 5-quart pot big enough to hold your Bundt pan
  • clean tea towel
  • pan lid that’s at least as large as your bundt pan

Directions

  1. Prepare the cake mix according to the instructions on the package.
  2. Add 1 inch of water to a 5-quart pot, and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat.
  3. Spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray and place in the center of the pot.
  4. Pour the prepared cake batter into the Bundt pan.
  5. Cover the pot with a clean tea towel and place a lid over the top. Fold the towel so that there’s only a little bit of overhang and the edges of the towel cannot touch the burner or flame.
  6. Steam the cake for 45 – 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Depending on the thickness of your Bundt pan, cooking time may vary.)
  7. To remove the Bundt pan from the pot, use pot holders and a large spoon: place the handle of the spoon into the center hole of the pan and use it as leverage to lift the pan out of the water.
  8. Allow the cake to cool, then invert it onto a serving dish and decorate it as desired.

Love Bundt cakes? You won’t be able to say no to our cherry cheesecake chocolate Bundt cake, pineapple upside-down Bundt cake, or buckeye Bundt cake.