Food Recipe Collections & Favorites 6 Slow Cooker Cake Recipes for Desserts You Can Set and Forget Apply the make-ahead mentality of your crockpot to dessert. By Samantha Leffler Samantha Leffler Samantha is the senior food editor at RealSimple and previously launched the US Weekly food vertical, where she wrote about the intersection of food and pop culture. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 28, 2023 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Victor Protasio Slow cookers are a great way to get dinner on the table with minimal fuss and mess. We're especially fond of using them for super tender meat preparations—pork shoulder, chicken thighs, and beef brisket—that do especially well when cooked low, slow, and undisturbed. But have you ever tried baking in your slow cooker? We came up with six delicious ways to work the sweet side of your appliance. Sure, you could make similar versions in the oven, but the slow cooker provides a slow (duh) even heat that, for some cakes, is far superior to the traditional oven treatment. And we suggest scooping the chocolate pudding cake straight from the slow cooker into your dessert dish. Tricks and Tips for Slow-Cooker Baking There are a couple of key things to keep in mind when you're assembling these magic cakes: A few recipes require a homemade rack that prevents the cake vessel from sitting directly on the bottom of the insert. Rather than ordering a custom rack, we coiled up some foil to give the cake pans some breathing room. (This handy trick works if you need to make a homemade steamer basket as well.)The slow-cooker cakes are baked with a towel pulled taut underneath the lid. Since cakes naturally create steam while they bake, the towel absorbs droplets of condensation so they don't drip back onto the cake. With this in mind, if you happen to use an industrial-strength-scented laundry detergent or fabric softener, you may want to use something milder. (We tried one recipe that tasted an awful lot like Mountain Fresh Breeze.) 01 of 06 Slow Cooker Angel Food Cake Victor Protasio Whether you make it in a slow cooker or bake it in the oven, angel food cake gets its lift from properly beaten egg whites. Unlike heavy cream, which is best whipped when very cold in a very cold bowl, egg whites whip better at room temperature. Leave your eggs out for a couple of hours before baking or set them in a bowl and cover them with some warm water for about 15 minutes. Once your angel food cake has cooled, it’s best sliced with a serrated knife. Those tiny teeth and a gently sawing motion cut neatly through the cake without deflating it. Get the Recipe 02 of 06 Slow Cooker Apple Spice Cake Victor Protasio The only trick to this sweet and simple cake is finding the right Bundt pan for the job. It calls for an 8-cup pan, smaller than standard Bundts, which are typically closer to a 10– or 12-cup capacity. Most importantly, the cake pan should fit inside your slow cooker with a little breathing room. While apple is a great choice, this cake would be no less delicious with chopped pear or a mixture of the two fall fruits. Dust the cake with powdered sugar for a pretty presentation or serve with a scoop of cinnamon-flavored homemade ice cream. Get the Recipe 03 of 06 Slow Cooker Carrot Cake Victor Protasio Carrot cake can sometimes suffer from the dries. That’s why it's often made with oil instead of butter and packed with controversial extras like raisins and pineapple. Butter is part liquid, which evaporates and can dry out during baking, even with the addition of shredded vegetables. But oil almost always ensures a moist cake, and its neutral flavor won’t mask the natural sweetness of the carrots. Cooking (or technically, steaming) this cake in the slow cooker gives it an ultra-moist interior. And a layer of classic cream cheese frosting doesn’t hurt. Get the Recipe 04 of 06 Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake Victor Protasio You like chocolate dump cakes, right? This one couldn’t be easier and you don’t have to worry about it for three whole hours. It works in a round or oval slow cooker, and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry. If you don't have coffee granules, you can make this cake without them, and the kiddos would be none the wiser. Go ahead and pull out the ice cream about 15 minutes before you’re ready to eat this one to encourage sexy melting. Get the Recipe 05 of 06 Slow Cooker Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Victor Protasio If you’ve never made a pineapple upside-down cake, this recipe is a good place to start. Most recipes require you to make a traditional caramel and pour it into a cake pan before you layer on the fruit and the batter, which can be intimidating, even for seasoned upside-down cake bakers. This one only requires mixing a bit of brown sugar with melted butter and smearing it on the bottom of a slow cooker, and we know you can handle that. We love a classic pineapple approach but come summer, try this with peaches, plums, or apricots. Get the Recipe 06 of 06 Slow Cooker Cinnamon-Pecan Monkey Bread Heather Meldrom OK, this recipe is not technically cake but it's sweet and cinnamony, makes for a decadent dessert, and is slow-cooker easy. It uses a shortcut—a can of large refrigerator biscuits—so a fully stocked pantry is not required. If that's not enough to whet your appetite, this treat doubles to provide the most delightful aromatherapy session you can imagine. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit