It’s tricky to deal with your cake crave when you don’t have an oven at home. Yes, you can still buy some, but we do not encourage stepping out of your house in this Covid-19 pandemic. If you’re thinking of using your microwave but still wonder, “Can cake be baked in microwave?” then our post is what you need.
Scroll down for an honest answer and a complete guide on how to bake your cake in microwaves.
Can Cake Be Baked In Microwaves?
Of course, yes.
You read it right: you can easily and quickly bake a cake in a microwave. However, how effective microwaves bake your cake is still a mystery for many people.
How To Bake Cake In A Microwave Vs. Oven
You might be wondering if the microwave can bake cakes as well as an assured oven.
While microwaves use electromagnetic waves to heat food, an oven cooks food by utilizing hot air circulation. Although their cooking techniques are different, their goals are the same – making your food cooked fully.
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Microwaves cook food much faster than regular ovens. Yet, the oven does have its advantages. However, if you want to cook your cake quickly, a microwave might be the best selection.
Is A Convection Microwave Essential For Baking A Cake?
Most people believe that you can only bake a cake in a convection microwave. However, it’s not true: You can still bake a cake in the normal heating mode. See which type of microwave oven can we use to bake cakes:
First, make sure you use microwave-safe materials and avoid using metal items. For instance, a microwave-safe bowl or silicon baking cookware.
Make sure you don’t use the steel frame that usually comes in the same package as your microwave as it doesn’t meet the safety requirement in normal heating mode.
All you have to do then is to put your baking mixture on the turntable and bake the cake. You only have to wait for 5-7 minutes for the cake to be fully cooked under normal heating conditions. Thus, pay attention to the time as the texture will be slightly different.
If you leave your cake in the microwave for too long, your cake can also be dry. You can dip the cake in syrup to solve this problem, and it’ll be a moist sponge cake.
Read More:
8 Most Common Microwave Problems & How You Can Fix Them
3 Steps To Bake A Cake In Microwaves In Convection Mode
When your microwave is in convection mode, it will act as an oven. There are 3 main steps by which you can bake a cake successfully: preheating, cooking, and cooling down:
1. Preheating
First, select the ‘echo/stop’ button. Then, choose convection mode, and your microwave will start its preheating mode automatically. After that, put the rack inside and set the temperature. Finally, press start.
2. Cooking
Once the microwave has finished the preheating process, be sure to microwave the dough while the temperature is still there. You’d better put the batter in the microwave as soon as possible as the temperature only lasts 10 minutes.
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After placing the pan of cake molds inside, you need to go through the whole process again. Put the microwave oven in convection mode, adjust the temperature, and set a timer. However, this time you must have a fixed time.
Remember that by using convection microwaves, the baking time is 25% faster. For example, if you usually bake a cake in 30 minutes in the oven, then you’ll have to wait for 7.5 minutes less to get your final piece from the microwave. So, calculate your time wisely.
3. Cooling down
When the cake is made, remove it from the microwave and allow it to cool down completely. Press the stop button and leave the main switch on to make sure the microwave is still working.
When the cool-down process finishes, there would be a notification sound. As soon as the sound stops, you are done. Feel free to clean your microwave afterward.
See how to clean your microwave here:
Understanding Your Microwave’s Power Levels
Understanding your microwave’s power levels is vital regarding the quality of your batch. Most of the time, you can see the options on the control board. Each power level specializes in different functions. If you don’t specify a power level, the microwave will automatically be on default mode, which is high.
The details of each option are as follows:
100% (High level)
100% is the highest power level of a microwave. You can use this function to boil water, caramelize livestock, cook poultry, grill fish and vegetables. Usually, when you put your microwave on this level, it’ll produce tender and juicy meat.
80–70% (Medium-high level)
On the other hand, a power level of 70 – 80% is great for reheating and roasting ingredients. You can also process cheese and eggs-related dishes well.
60–50% (Medium level)
If you want to microwave baking puddings and cakes, make sure you do it at a medium power level. Also, you can prepare all sauces and custard with ease in this mode. Steamed rice and soup are no exception.
40–30% (Medium low level)
The medium-low level is ideal for thawing, melting butter, and chocolate.
20% (Low level)
At the same time, if you want to soften your butter, cheese, or ice cream, this power level is what to choose. It can also proof yeast dough for bread making.
10%
Last but not least, for those who want to retain a dish’s temperature, you could put it in a microwave at 10% power level.
Can You Bake Other Things In The Microwave?
No sweat!
There are lots of microwaving-baked dishes you can make. For instance, choco cookies and mug cakes are perfect for microwave baking.
Feel free to google for more recipes to cook with your microwaves. Refer to the video below for more dessert ideas:
Conclusion
Indeed there are so many recipes regarding microwave baking. If you’re stuck with the question, “Can cake be baked in microwave?” we hope our post has cleared the path. Try interesting microwave recipes now, and you’ll be surprised by how good they are.
