Cooking under Pressure: Chocolate-Espresso Pudding Cake

This chocolate-espresso pudding cake is the dessert we made in our cooking class. And even though the chicken fell off the bone and the lasagna was oooey goooey cheesy good, this was the best part of the meal.

The teacher had melted the chocolate for us and premeasured out the ingredients which was great, because it takes longer to prepare this recipe then actually cook it. Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 cups of water
Cooking spray
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
4 ozs bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur
2 teaspoons instant espresso granules
2 cups coffee or vanilla bean low-fat ice cream
Chocolate shavings, optional

Directions:

Pour 2 cups of water into your inner pot of the multicooker. Place a steam rack in the pot or and upside down bowl. Coat your 6” round cake pan with cooking spray then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the sugar, shake gently to coat the bottom and sides of the pan.

Combine the 4 ozs of chocolate and the 2 tablespoons of butter in a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high 30-45 seconds or until melted.

Measure your flour and level with a knife. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt in a small bowl. Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form then add 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. (So you can turn the bowl over and nothing falls out)

In class I combined the egg yolks and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and hand whisked them until it was thick (custard like) and a pale color. This did take awhile and I’m sure you could get the same results using a hand mixer. Gradually beat in the liqueur, espresso granules and melted chocolate. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolks. Gradually sift the flour mixture into the egg mixture and fold in gently. (I did learn how to fold correctly, from the center then around the bowl. This provides air pockets in the batter) Spoon batter into the pan and spread gently, not to deflate the batter. Cover with foil, make sure foil fits tightly around sides and under the bottom of the pan,  I don’t have a rack with handles. So I use an upside down bowl and for handles I made a sling with a 20”x 3” piece of foil. Put the pan on the sling and lower it on the bottom of the bowl.

Close and lock the lid. Pressure cook on high for 11 minutes. When the time is up use the “quick release” method. Remove pan from cooker and take off the foil; cool 10 minutes. Spoon the cake in a bowl top and serve with ice cream and chocolate shavings (optional). Don’t forget your cup of coffee. Yum Yum!