5 Delicious desserts you can easily whip up with your rice cooker

Sarah Khan 06 Feb 2018

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5 Easy rice cooker dessert recipes
Browse through the gallery and take your pick!
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Banana Bread
Ready in: 1 h 30 mins

Ingredients:

Enriched white flour (1 1/2 cups), White sugar (3/4 cups), Baking powder (2 tsp.), Baking soda (1/2 tsp.), Salt (1/2 tsp.), Mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium or large bananas), Softened butter (1/3 cups), Milk (1/4 cups), Egg (1 piece), Cooking oil

Directions:

1) Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until the ingredients are well-mixed.

2) Add the mashed bananas, butter, milk and egg, and mix the batter until is forms a thick and creamy consistency throughout. We recommend using an electric mixer (on a low setting) as hand-mixing the bananas and butter may prove difficult.

3) Throw in any other ingredients you like in your banana cake, like chopped nuts or dried fruit - get creative!

4) Here's an important step to prevent your banana bread from sticking to your pot as it cooks: coat the inside of your rice cooker pot lightly with a layer of cooking oil. Use a paper towel if you need to spread it evenly.

5) Now, pour the batter evenly into the pot and start your cooker. Depending on your rice cooker settings, you might find that the bread isn't fully cooked after just one cycle, so let it run twice. Do remember to allow the cooker to cool down for a few minutes in between cycles.

6) Once it's cooked, voila! Pop your fluffy banana bread out onto your dessert plate and tuck it into its heavenly goodness.
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Cheesecake
Ready in: 1 h 30 mins

Ingredients:

Crust Graham cracker crumbs (3/4 cup), Melted butter (4 tb.)

Filling Cream cheese - room temperature (30grams), 2 Eggs, Granulated Sugar (5 tb.), Cornstarch (2tb.), Whipping cream (3/4 cup), Lemon juice (1 tsp.), Vanilla Essence (1 tsp.), A pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Combine the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs in a bowl.

2) Press the mixture into a rice cooker pan.

3) In another bowl, whip the cream cheese and sugar together until it reaches a light and fluffy consistency.

4) Mix eggs into the bowl.

5) Add cornstarch, whipping cream, lemon juice, vanilla and salt and mix them well.

6) Add the mixture to the rice cooker and select the "normal" setting for it too cook.

7) As the cheese cake cooks, test the consistency with a fork. If you find that one cycle is not enough to cook it, put it on another cycle.

8) Let your cheesecake cool once it's cooked. To pop it out, place a piece of baking paper on top of your cheesecake, before flipping the rice cooker pan over so that the cake lands in your hand.

9) Place it on your plate, top it with any sauces you like and enjoy!
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Tapioca Pudding
Ready In: 1 h 10 mins

Ingredients:
Canned unsweetened coconut milk (3 1/4 cups), Small Pearl Tapioca (3/4 cup), Sugar (3/4 cup), Pure vanilla extract (2 1/2 teaspoons), Egg - beaten, A pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Place all the ingredients, except the vanilla essence, in a rice cooker bowl and mix well.

2) Place the bowl in the rice cooker, close the cover and select the 'Porridge' setting on your cooker.

3) As it cooks, open the cover and stir briefly every 20 minutes, before closing the cover again.

4) Once it's cooked, carefully remove the bowl from the cooker and add in the vanilla.

5) Pour the gooey pudding mixture into a large serving bowl or individual serving dishes.

6) Let the pudding cool. You can either serve it warm, or refrigerate it (cover the bowl with a cling wrap, however). The tapioca pudding is now ready for you and your family to savour and enjoy.

Note: A small pearl tapioca is individually the rough size of sesame seeds. If your pearls are larger, you'll need a longer cooking time and more liquid to achieve the desired pudding texture.

Photo: @domi_globetrotter (Instagram)
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Chocolate Cake
Ready In: 1 h 5 mins

Ingredients:

White flour (1 1/2 cups), Raw sugar (1/2 cup), Dark cocoa or powdered chocolate (4 tb), Baking soda (1 tsp), Salt (1/2 tsp), Cinnamon (1/2 tsp), Double-acting baking powder (1/4 tsp), Cooking oil (90ml), Vanilla (1/2 tsp), Vinegar (1 tb), Water (1 cup)

Directions:

1) Combine the dry ingredients: white flour, raw sugar, dark cocoa (powdered chocolate), baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

2) Mix them well.

3) Now, add the wet ingredients into the mixture: cooking oil, vanilla essence, vinegar and water.

4) Mix the batter well for 1 minute till it forms a smooth consistency. Be sure not to over-whisk the batter, however.

5) Pour the batter into a greased rice cooker cooker bowl. If your rice cooker has settings to choose from, set it 'slow' mode for 60 minutes. Don't worry if it doesn't, however.

6) Check your cake at the 45 minute mark with a fork or toothpick.

7) Sprinkle your warm chocolate cake with either powdered sugar or your favourite frosting!
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Poached Pear
Ingredients:

2 Pears (peeled, halved and cored), Pomegranate juice (2 cups), Apple cider (2 cups), 1 cinnamon stick (1 piece), 2 whole cloves, Star anise (2 pieces), 3 black cardamon pods, 1 piece of peeled fresh ginger in thin slices

Directions:

1) Mix the pomegranate juice, apple cider, cinnamon stick, clementine peel, cloves, star anise, cardamon pods and ginger in the rice cooker pot.

2) Place your pear halves in the poaching m ixture.

3) Close your rice cooker lid and select the "white rice" setting for 50 minutes, or however long it takes to get the pears tender.

4) Once the cycle is over and the pears are cooked, open the cover and turn the pears over. Let them sit for an hour. Turn them over again, before letting them sit for yet another hour in the mixture.

5) For more intense colour and stronger flavour, you can choose to refrigerate your poached pears in the bed of delicious mixture overnight.

Love desserts but don’t have a convectional oven to bake with?

Contrary to its name, the humble rice cooker is actually a handy multi-tasking appliance.

Besides being the easiest way to cook rice perfectly, it’s also a great way to prepare a wide variety of foods and dishes – and yes, your favourite desserts too (even if you have the most basic of cookers).

Using a rice cooker to bake is the perfect kitchen hack for those of us living in apartments without convectional ovens, or want the hassle-free route of having to bake without cleaning up an oven after.

So no more excuses not to bake your favourite treats – it’s time to make the most of that cooker. From the fluffiest banana breads to even cheesecakes, browse the gallery above for 5 easy dessert recipes you can whip up using your rice cooker!

Sarah Khan

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