Have you heard of these? It all started at a bakery in Roslyn, New York, called -quite appropriately – The Dotcakes. They sell them in many different formats, including the popular cupcake, The whole idea behind them is a soft cake inserted in a paper or glass cup, filled to the brim with buttercream, and topped with nonpareils. Simple and effective. Apparently dot cakes are going viral on TikTok, I would not know because I never had the patience for the platform. But Susan, from The View from Great Island, recently made those and I jumped on that project shortly after reading her post. Well, first I had to visit The Super Evil Empire to get me some paper cups. THEN I jumped on it.

LEMON DOT CAKES
(from The View from Great Island)

15 ounce lemon cake mix, prepared according to box directions.
1 cup salted butter, at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
8 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
nonpareil sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 10×15 jelly roll pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to its directions and spread into your prepared pan. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until it springs back when lightly touched in the center. A toothpick will come out without wet batter on it. Set aside to cool.

To make the frosting beat the softened butter until fluffy in a large bowl. Slowly add the sugar, a cup at a time, along with the lemon juice and vanilla. Beat until smooth and silky.

When the cake has cooled use your cookie cutter (in the same size as your cake cups) to cut out rounds of cake. Place a round of cake into each cup. Top with the frosting, and bring it right to the top. Smooth it out so that it is completely flat.

Place your sprinkles in a bowl and dip each cup headfirst down into the sprinkles so that they cover the whole surface.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Please do not be upset about the use of a box cake. This is a simple, humble cake that just needs to be moist and flavorful. A box cake delivers that without issues. You can of course make the cake component from scratch. But sometimes simplicity wins in my kitchen. The little cups come with a lid that is perfect to donate these babies, otherwise the nonpareils could make it a bit messy, some always seem to fall off.

I donated the whole batch but I heard they turned out delicious. Each one was donated with a little spoon attached to the lid, to make it easier for the volunteers working that meal.

If you have a party coming up, particularly with kids, consider baking a batch of these dot cakes, they will be a huge hit…
Many thanks to Susan for the inspiration!

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