A chef has claimed that cakes taste significantly better and come out “super soft” when the oven is swapped for a rice cooker. Andy Hearnden, known on TikTok as Andy Cooks, shared his pineapple upside-down cake recipe in a video posted earlier this month, in which he said: “Stop treating your rice cooker like it's only got one job, you pineapple.”
How the rice cooker swap works
The method is straightforward: replace the oven with a rice cooker. Before preparing the cake batter, the pineapple is chopped into chunks. To achieve a caramelised, gooey texture, brown sugar is added to the rice cooker and cooked on the standard setting.
The batter is made by whisking egg whites until stiff peaks form, then incorporating sugar to create a meringue. Egg yolks are folded in, followed by dry ingredients added gradually in stages. Once the brown sugar has turned into a caramel, the fruit is added, and the batter is poured over it and spread evenly. The cake is then cooked using the standard rice cooker function.
Viewers split over the technique
Andy continued: “Pineapple upside down cake in a rice cooker, you say. Hmm, actually becomes almost more of a dessert than a cake. Super soft, lovely, sweet syrup. That's delicious.”
His video has amassed more than 284,700 views, 11,000 likes and 68 comments at the time of writing, with viewers divided over the unconventional baking method. Wentley commented: “Heh. It's a neat trick, but I love the harder, caramelized sugar you get from baking.” Brandon wrote: “I just bought one and I can't wait to make meals.” Klootviool21 added: “It looks woooooow... it's only that hot pineapple, not convinced.”
Recipe: Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients: 115g (4 oz) butter, 180g (6 ½ oz) light brown sugar, 400g pineapple pieces, 10 maraschino cherries, 120g (4 ¼ oz) cake flour, 5g (one tsp) baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, four large eggs, 200g (7 oz) caster sugar, one tsp vanilla essence.
Place the brown sugar and butter into the rice cooker and set it to its standard function. Separate the eggs into two bowls — whites in one, yolks in the other. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar to produce a meringue. Stir the vanilla essence into the yolks and whisk until they turn a pale yellow shade.
Carefully fold the yolks into the meringue. Working in two to three batches, gently fold in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Switch off the rice cooker after approximately 10 minutes, then arrange the pineapple pieces and cherries over the caramel that should have formed. Pour the cake mixture over the pineapple in the pan and distribute it evenly.
Set the rice cooker to its standard function and, when the cycle completes, insert a toothpick or cake tester right to the base of the cake and withdraw it. If it emerges clean, the cake is ready. Gently invert the cake onto a plate and serve while still warm.
