Christina Tosi's Tips For Baking A Flawless Toaster Oven Cake

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Toaster ovens are remarkably convenient. Whether you're heating up pizza, quickly crisping up frozen fries, or popping in some heat-and-eat appetizers, it's likely one of your go-to appliances. That being said, there's a good chance you aren't letting your mighty little toaster oven live up to it's full potential. Believe it or not, you can absolutely bake cakes in one. Chef and culinary personality Christina Tosi of Milk Bar spoke exclusively with Chowhound to share how you can use your toaster oven to create everything from pineapple dump cakes to red velvet cakes that are just waiting to be topped with cream cheese frosting.

"Depending on the size of your toaster oven, you can 100% bake a quarter sheet pan of cake, which is like a standard size," Tosi says. She notes that you should experiment with adjusting the cake's placement as you bake it, since many toaster ovens lack a fan. Rotating the cake will help to ensure that it bakes evenly in the small oven. For best results, "You may need to move the rack up and down a little bit to make sure it's not too close to the heating element, where it will burn or cook too fast, and then rotate the cake halfway through," Tosi recommends.

Christina Tosi also suggests baking a tester version first before you try the full-size dessert, just to make sure you have the placement, heat, and rotation schedule correct. "I am a big believer in starting with a sample set," she notes, pointing out that baking a mini cake or cupcake is a great way to calibrate the bake for your specific appliance.

While you'll need to make some time adjustments for your tester dessert, you won't have to do that for the full-size version, according to the pro baker and entrepreneur. She says she even has her baking class students use toaster ovens in class, and has them stick to the standard recipe they'd use if they were baking in a full-size oven. If you don't have a toaster oven, it's time to get shopping — the Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster Oven is a great place to start.