It should be possible to make any moist cake in a pot that has a tight lid, though I would keep a VERY close eye on it to make sure the bottom doesn't burn.

You could make brownies-in-a-mug in a slow cooker, but I guess those might be hard to come by in Thailand.

I know you can do it in a crock-pot but another option might be to steam them but the texture might be off.

Make the batter a little thinner and do 'em up pancake style. I used to make them like that every year for my ex's birthday breakfast. :)

I've made them while camping by using a fancy "outback oven" that was essentially a cloth heat reflector on top of a lidded pan. You could probably fake one of those, or order it here http://www.amazon.com/Backpackers-Pantry-Outback-Oven/dp/B00266IQ5C

I remember one time at camp, we baked a cake in a coffee can by sealing the can really well with foil and burying it in the embers from the fire. It took forever and a day, but was all the more delicious because we only tried it as an experiment.

I think it would work to bake brownies on a slow grill, if you put foil over the top of the pan, and possibly inverted a larger/deeper (metal) pan over the baking dish placed on the grill, if the grill is open (indoor) rather than covered (like a backporch American grill). Brownies and cake need heat from all sides to bake properly, and I think it'd work well to create a grill-top oven that way...just make sure the heat from the grill isn't so hot that it burns the bottom before the top is done.

Put a small pan in a dutch oven and cover the oven with coals that should work. As far as timing goes, you will have to experiment, but then you get to eat the "rejects"!

I just made some brownie (mix) pancakes. They want to spread quite a bit so a little extra flour might stabilize them some. Cook them slow and low because the brownies cook more slowly than pancakes do.

They were quite good. Like brownies, but buttery. How could that be bad? They were also quite dense, so I might mess around with some baking powder in the future. I had mine with some balsamic strawberry puree, and now all I want to do is make a breakfast brownie sundae.

I live in Hong Kong, where rice cookers are much more common than ovens. You can use the rice cooker to make cake, bread, and brownies. The recipe for brownies (from Japan) cracks me up: it has just eggs and chocolate!

I was going to suggest the camping "oven" too. I've made coffee cake on a coleman stove with one of those.

I have "baked" in an electric skill with a lid. The skillet had a thermostat, and while baking temp was not an exact 1:1, it was close. I have also baked brownies and cake batter in the waffle iron (it was just terrible, eating the ones that didn't come out quite right).

My family loves white cake batter "waffles" with any kind of fruit and whipped cream. Also batter cooked just like pancakes. And the smell is divine. It makes your children VERY cooperative.

mangabanga--

Oh. My. God. Brownie pancakes?????

WHY is he your EX???? That idiot! ;)

I think it depends what kind of grill you have. I've baked using my Weber kettle (charcoal grill). I do it after the main meal has been cooked, and the coals have died down. I make a thin layer of coals and mostly close the vents.

I've never tried brownies, but I've successfully baked crisps, cupcakes and muffins this way.

I think you could do the same with a gas grill, by turning the gas on one side off and baking on the non-heated side.

yes, you can! everyday food magazine featured these...
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/fudgy-skillet-brownies

best of luck :)

an aside, i can't stand it when commenters are snarky, there is just no need and this is not the place

You could look on an Amish supply site for a stovetop oven. It is a sort of box that sits on top of a burner.

Or you could use a dutch oven. We used to bake pies rather nicely by elevating the pie tin from the bottom of the cast iron dutch oven and heaping coals on top.

Google something like dutch oven baking.

With a little practice either method will yield good results.

You can bake a cake in a toaster oven...brownies would likely work as well.

@patrick (the other one)....

I dumped him because he became a vegetarian. Total deal breaker.

Mangabanga, I just had to laugh at the vegetarian comment. My friend dumped a guy because he became a vegan. She just could not deal.

As to the brownies, I suggest the stovetop recipe from Martha Stewart. They were good. If you have a waffle iron, chocolate waffles may be a good substitute.

I've also baked in an electric skillet (while camping), and think you could do it with a tight fitting lid.

When I searched around for ideas, the suggestion I used was to use a second smaller pan inside the skillet, separated from the direct heat by a small rack (I used a wire trivet). Cover the second pan with foil. You can also add water to the skillet it you want steam. It worked fine, but the texture was slightly different.

I'd totally forgotten about this but years ago my mom gave me an old stovetop baker so I went hunting for it and sure enough it was up on a high shelf in the basement. Some parts are missing though. I'm going to haul this along to our next camping trip!

The top looks like cake container and the bottom is heavy aluminum. There's a rack (again which I think is intended to lift the pan off of direct heat) plus various baking pans. Click on enlarge to see it better.
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-west-bend-stanley-aluminum-ovenette-w

Out of curiosity I checked to see what else was out there along these lines and found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=170485501563&Category=11649&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2

I've definitely heard of people making brownies in a George Foreman grill.

@ maelove, the Martha Stewart one uses an oven - you prep, melt, and mix on the stovetop, but then you need to transfer it to an oven at 350 degrees.

To the OP: you most likley have a love for food if you're a thekitchn.com reader so I'd suggest you invest in a countertop oven, they can go for as low as $30US. Think of the possibilities it will open up - brownies, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, souffles, pies, etc. I'm sure there are many ways to simluate baking but if your friend loves brownies, no-bake brownies aren't gonna cut it.

beyourownsaviour

Most of those recipes start on the stove top but then end up in the oven. I know its hard to believe but sometimes people know more than Google.

So as far as steaming I was thinking of these cupcakes, again the texture might be off but I think it would be totally fun to try out the technique.

http://nyamfood.blogspot.com/2008/02/chinese-sponge-cakes-steamed.html

I'm so glad you asked this question! I've been wondering the same thing. I have an oven, but refuse to turn it on in the summer because of what it does to the temperature of my tiny house!

@breezie

oops, thanks for pointing that out, don't know how i missed it.
luckily other readers seem to have some good suggestions.

Since I'm still curious, and because I have kids who will devour almost anything with chocolate and sugar, I sacrificed a $1 brownie mix for the cause. It's on the grill now. I'll report back later.

That brownie pancake and cake batter pancake idea is brilliant. I will be making that immediately.

At camp as a kid, we made cake in hollowed out orange peel cups in the campfire. I think it might work for brownies too?

This link makes the always referenced vegan chocolate cake in a pan on the grill:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/2009/06/_a_slice_of_chocolate.html

but when you say grill - are you talking about an electric indoor appliance or something like a Weber Kettle?

If your kitchen has room for a toaster oven, you can make a small batch in the little tray or even in something like a pie tin. I have successfully even made pie-tin banana bread in a cheap toaster oven - dorm living necessitates such experimentation...