TikTok's Chili Cake Looks Deceptively Real In A Pioneer Woman Slow Cooker

Can a cake possibly resemble a vat of chili? Yes indeed. TikToker Brandi Myers Dornon, AKA @mommadrama101, recently proved this when she made a cake that was indistinguishable from a hot pot of chili — especially because she constructed and served the dessert inside of a Pioneer Woman slow cooker.

Dornon's eye-fooling treat started as a challenge from her husband, who said he bet she couldn't make a chili cake look realistic. Her TikTok video shows her creation coming to life one layer at a time. While the bottom was rather ordinary — layers of cake and frosting that were hidden in the slow cooker — the top is extraordinarily artistic. Besides smoothing and airbrushing the surface, Dornon used fondant (and patience) to craft realistic-looking shredded cheese. The decorations also featured faux tomatoes, scallions, and beans floating in chili broth that was really just caramel syrup, garnering more than one comment in the vein of, "I thought you put chili on a cake!"

Dornon's slow cooker creation may have been a prank, but did you know that you can actually bake a cake from start to finish inside of the Crockpot? That's right — and doing so has a few benefits that might even make it more efficient than using your oven.

For starters, a slow cooker is a relatively safe appliance, so your kids can be involved in the entire process from start to finish; you don't have to banish them from the kitchen when you move the cake in and out of the oven. Also, since the temperature is low and the cooking time is long, there's less of chance that you will burn your treat. And, best of all, a typical oven uses about 25 times more watts of electricity than a slow cooker, so this countertop appliance is a much more cost-effective way to bake.

Besides being a more affordable way to bake, a slow cooker is underrated when it comes to versatility. You may already be using yours for meats, dips, and, of course, chili, but other unexpected things you should make in your slow cooker include everything from bread and cheesecake to giant cookies and even pudding. If you decide to bake a cake in your Crockpot — such as a slow cooker banana pudding cake recipe — just be sure to line the interior with parchment paper before pouring in your batter.