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.
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.
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!
If you are a lemon lover, this post is for you. A fantastic five-layer cake, deliciously chewy cookies, baby little “pies”, and a posset. Let’s start with the cake, maybe my favorite of this series, courtesy of Helen Fetcher, my beloved baking guru…
for the lemon filling, to be made the day before: 4 large egg yolks 1 ¼ cups water 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar (250 grams) ⅓ cup cornstarch (45 grams) ½ teaspoon table salt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (45 grams) 1 tablespoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
for the cake: 3 large egg yolks 1 cup sour cream (225 grams) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 cups sifted cake flour (300 grams) 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams) 1 tablespoon 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 large lemons) ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (170 grams)
for the lemon buttercream: 1 pound powdered sugar 1 cup lemon fillng ¼ cup butter, softened (60 grams or 4 tablespoons)
Make the lemon filling: Whisk everything together in a medium size sauce pan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Transfer to a storage container, cover the top of the filling with plastic wrap and let come to room temperature. Store in the fridge for 2 days. or at least overnight to firm up.
Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and spray the paper only. Try not to spray the sides. If you do, wipe them with a paper towel. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ¼ cup sour cream and vanilla. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the dry ingredients and mix on low for 30 seconds to blend. Add the softened butter and remaining ¾ cup sour cream. Mix on low until moistened. Then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 ½ minutes. Add the egg mixture in three additions, beating on medium 30 seconds each time, scraping down as necessary.
Dollop the batter in the half sheet pan. Using and offset spatula, spread it out evenly. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack until cold. At this point, it can be frozen in its pan well wrapped. Or you can refrigerate and continue assembling the cake later. It is easier to deal with layered cakes when they are very cold, so keep that in mind.
Make the lemon buttercream: Add all the ingredients to a mixing bow. Beat on low to bring together. Raise the speed to medium and beat until smooth. Raise it again to high and beat for 5 or more minutes until light and smooth with no grittiness from the powdered sugar.
Visit Helen’s site for a clear visualization on how to cut the cake to obtain 5 equal layers and one extra that will be processed for crumbs. You will use 1/4 cup of lemon filling spread over the layers, and then frost the cake with the buttercream, glueing cake crumbs to the sides and making a pattern with a cake comb on top. If desired, add some piped buttercream with a 1M tip or another one of your preference. Allow the cake to to sit in the fridge for a few hours before slicing.
Comments: I urge you to visit Helen’s site to get the detailed step-by-step photos. Helen makes the most complex bakes feel simple and approachable. This cake is spectacular, and the use of cake crumbs glued to the sides makes frosting a lot less stressful. It is incredibly lemony. Thank you, Helen!
⅔ cup (150g) salted butter, softened 1 cup plus 2 tbsp (225g) granulated sugar 2 tablespoon lemon zest 1 large egg room temperature 1 large egg yolk room temperature 1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract 2 cups (284g) all-purpose flour ¾ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder ee notes in above FAQ section for baking powder quantity alternatives) ¼ teaspoon salt
Combine soft butter, sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the egg and mix until well incorporated. Add egg yolk, vanilla and lemon juice then mix until smooth and creamy.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the butter mixture and fold it in until evenly incorporated. The dough will be soft but not sticky at this point.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Make the lemon sugar. Combine sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and rub it together until the sugar smells fragrant.
Use a cookie scoop to portion dough and roll into smooth balls. Roll the balls of dough in the sugar so they are evenly coated.
Place dough balls on the lined baking trays spacing them 3 inches apart and bake for 9-11 minutes until lightly golden on the edges and still slightly soft in the middle.
Comments: These cookies are addictive, they have a super clean and bright citric flavor, and perfect texture. I made them on a Wednesday and donated two days later, so I tried one to make sure it was still ok, and had to exercise self-control to keep my taste-test to a single cookie. Make them, and you can thank me later!
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BABY LEMON IMPOSSIBLE PIES recipe can be found here
Those are simple to make, and a lot of fun to serve and enjoy… Not quite sure why they are called “pies” but whatever you call them, they won’t disappoint.
LEMON POSSET
LEMON POSSET (from The Bewitching Kitchen)
2 cups heavy whipping cream 2/3 cup granulated sugar 5 Tbsp lemon juice blueberries, optional for serving
In a small saucepan, heat the cream and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so it doesn’t boil over and keep it at a medium boil for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, then set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over a large measuring cup with a pouring lip. Divide the mixture between 6 ramekins, filling them about 3/4 of the volume.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until fully set, then top with blueberries, if you like.
The cupcakes were chocolate, and to make these more special, I made the wrapper component as a compound chocolate concoction, so the whole thing was edible. I painted aluminum foil cupcake wrappers with melted compound chocolate, in two steps, to make them sturdy. First step I left them at room temperature for 15 minutes, painted once more and put in the fridge for 10 minutes. Then carefully peeled off the paper wrapper, and laid the baked cupcakes inside. The handles were also made with compound chocolate piped on parchment sheets and carefully placed over the buttercream while still soft. I used a grass piping tip to cover the cupcakes, and placed three eggs on top.
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I love the way these turned out! .
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EASTER EGG NESTS CUPCAKES
These were vanilla cupcakes, the buttercream was dyed pastel green or pink, and piped with a petal tip (#104) or a closed star tip. Little eggs added on top…
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TRICOLOR SWIRL CUPCAKES
Chocolate Cupcakes were frosted with buttercream divided in three portions and dyed pink, blue and the third portion left without any color. The buttercream was laid over plastic wrap in three straight lines, closed as a sausage and piped using a 1M icing tip. Sprinkles added right after piping.
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SPRINKLE BORDER CUPCAKES
Cupcakes were vanilla. Buttercream was divided in two portions, half dyed teal and half left white. Buttercream was placed in a large piping bag, piped as a border and immediately covered with sprinkles. The center was piped right after.
These technique will work with many color combinations, of course…
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RED AND WHITE ROSE CUPCAKES
Cupcakes were chocolate. To get this precise two-tone effect, the buttercream was dyed in two portions, red and white. A very small amount was dyed green for the leaves. The red buttercream was carefully laid inside the piping bag covering the edges, and the white placed at the center. Piping tip 1M was used to pipe the flower. The leaf was added right after piping the rose. You can see exactly how to prepare the piping bag watching this youtube video.
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SPRING CELEBRATION CUPCAKES
For these vanilla cupcakes, I made buttercream dyed pastel yellow and white, and used a variety of piping tips to pipe swirls (1M tip) and little blobs (French star tip). Golden sprinkles added a final festive look.
If you follow my baby blog, perhaps you’ve noticed I ran out of time to blog about St. Patrick’s cookies? It turns out I also got in trouble right here in the Bewitching Kitchen. Today I share a bread and a batch of cupcakes made in honor of that special holiday. Included in this post, a little cupcake decorating video, that you can find right after the recipe.
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Better late than never, let’s start with the bread…
SHAMROCK SOURDOUGH (from The Bewitching Kitchen)
450g bread flour 25g spelt flour 25g dark rye flour 75g sourdough starter (stiff or 100% hydration) 10g salt 360g water Thai rice flour (or tapioca flour) shamrock shape cut from edible paper
Mix all ingredients in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead gently for about 4 minutes (first or second speed maximum).
Transfer dough to a lightly oil bowl and do a bulk fermentation with 4 folds made 45 minutes apart. Before you start the fermentation , remove a very small amount of dough to a small glass container (like those that hold spices), and mark where the level of the dough is with a permanent marker. Keep that at room temperature to monitor fermentation.
After the last folding cycle, keep an eye on the fermentation using the small vial. Ideally you want to let the dough ferment until it is double in size. Depending on the day, temperature of your kitchen, it might take 8 hours or more.
Once bulk fermentation is over, shape the dough as a round ball. Place in the fridge overnight.
Next day, freeze the dough for 30 minutes in the banetton, to make it easier to score later. Invert the dough on a paper liner, add the shamrock shape in the center, and flour the region around it (I used Thai rice flour). To make the paper stick, you can spray the surface VERY LIGHTLY with water. Score the perimeter of the shamrock and the outer area of the dough, and place in a Dutch oven.
Close the pan and bake at 450F for 30 minutes, open and allow the bread to brown for a further 15 minutes.
Comments: I used my Supersonic blade to score the dough, but a sharp razor blade will do, of course. This composition of sourdough, with mostly white flour, but a touch of spelt and rye might very well be my favorite these days.
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Moving on, time for cupcakes!
ST PATRICK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES (from The Bewitching Kitchen)
makes 10 cupcakes
100g all-purpose flour 20g cocoa powder 140g granulated sugar 1/8 tsp salt 40g unsalted butter 1 large egg 120ml milk 1 + ½ tsp baking powder buttercream for topping Mini-golden Oreos painted with gold luster powder + vodka
Heat your oven to 350F and line a muffin tray with cupcake liners.
In a small, bowl, whisk the milk and egg with a fork. Reserve.
Put the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, butter, sugar and salt into the stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. Mix on a medium speed until the butter turns into the consistency of sand.
Pour in half of the milk and egg mixture into the stand mixer bowl with your other ingredients and mix on a slow speed until it all fully combines and becomes a thick paste. Pour the remaining milk mixture and mix on low-speed until the batter is smooth.
Fill the lined pan with batter, a little more than halfway full. Bake for 16 minutes, testing with a toothpick. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes to a rack to cool completely.
BASIC BUTTERCREAM FOR CUPCAKES
226g butter, unsalted, softened 452g powdered sugar pinch of salt Vanilla extract, about 1 tsp or more to taste a couple or more tablespoons of milk (to adjust consistency)
Place the softened butter in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer with the paddle attachment, add the pinch of salt, and whip at high speed for about 7 minutes. It needs to be really soft and lighter. Stop the mixer. Eyeball the amount of powdered sugar, add 1/3 and mix at low speed at first, once the sugar is starting to get incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high.
Add the second portion of the sugar, and incorporate the same way. Add the final portion, start at low speed, clean the sides of the bowl well with a spatula, add the vanilla and increase the speed slowly all the way to high. Whip it until very smooth. Add milk to desired consistency. Divide the buttercream in two portions, dye one with light green, one with darker green. Place both portions over a plastic wrap, enclose them as a sausage, drop inside a large piping bag fitted with an open star tip. Decorate the tops of the cupcakes as shown in the video. Add the gold Oreos.
Comments: I was pretty happy with the way these cupcakes turned out. It was fun to decorate, and to show the process in more detail, here is a little video for you.
Ready for a true labor of love? Full disclosure, it was a case of self-love, because I made it to celebrate my own Birthday! I spread the preparation over three days, you can definitely make it in two, but sometimes it is best not to rush. Since it’s been many years since I made this type of cake, I decided to take my time and enjoy the ride.
for the cake component: 3 large eggs 1 cup white sugar (220 g) 1 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 cup mayonnaise (180 g) 1 + 1/2 cup all purpose flour (180 g) 1/2 cup cocoa powder (45 g) 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup water (185 g)
for the ganache center: 1 Tbsp (15 g) white sugar 1 tsp glucose or Corn Syrup 1/2 cup (120 g) whipping cream 50 g dark chocolate 40 g milk chocolate 2 tsps of unsalted butter
for the chocolate mousse: 3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp whipping cream (200 g) 200 g dark chocolate 3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp heavy cream (200 g) 3 egg yolks 60 g white sugar 1/4 cup (60 g) water
for the chocolate mirror glaze: 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g) 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp water (100 g) 2 drops red food coloring (optional) 1 cup heavy whipping cream (220 g) 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp corn syrup or glucose (120 g) 1 + 1/2 cups cocoa powder (130 g) 6 gelatin sheets (16 g) – I used Platinum
Make the cake: Line a 1/4 inch sheet pan with parchment paper and heat oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, mayonnaise, and water. With an electric mixer, set on low speed, gradually add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients until combined. Then increase the speed to medium and continue to mix for one more minute until the batter is fully combined and smooth. Spread the batter onto the pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until the center of the cake is set.
Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and cover in plastic wrap and freeze until you are ready to start assembling the cake.
Make the ganache: Break up the dark chocolate and milk chocolate into small pieces and place into a heat-proof bowl; set aside. In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring the cream, glucose or corn syrup, and sugar to a boil. Pour 1/3 of the hot cream mixture over the chocolate pieces, whisking vigorously until the chocolate starts to melt. Pour another 1/3 of the hot cream over the chocolate while whisking, continuing until the cream is all used up. Place the butter in a tall container or pitcher and pour the ganache over it. Using an immersion blender, mix the ganache and butter together until smooth and shiny. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic touching the surface and let set for 5-6 hours at room temperature. You can also do that the day before.
After the ganache has set, remove the chocolate cake from the freezer and use a 3-inch cake cutter to cut six small cake rounds (each cake round should be about 1/4 the height of your cake ring). Place the chocolate ganache into a piping bag and pipe about 2 teaspoons of ganache in the center of each cake round). Place in the freezer for at least one hour.
Make the chocolate mousse: the mousse is made up of three components: the whipped cream, the chocolate ganache, and the egg yolks whipped with hot syrup (pâte à bombe). First, whip the 200 g cream until soft peaks form and set aside. For the chocolate ganache, break up the dark chocolate into smaller pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl. Bring the 200g heavy cream to a boil and then pour 1/3 of the hot cream onto the chocolate, whisking vigorously. Working in thirds, continue to pour the hot cream onto the chocolate until all of the cream has been used, whisking in-between each addition. Set aside.
For the pâte à bombe, place your egg yolks into a heat-proof bowl. In a large saucepan, heat the sugar and water together until the temperature reaches 244 F. Slowly pour the hot mixture onto the bowl holding the egg yolks, whisking continuously until the mixture thickens and turns a pale yellow.
Combine all three components: first fold the whip cream into the ganache, then pour the egg yolk mixture into the bowl of the mixed chocolate ganache, then fold all ingredients until smooth. Transfer mousse to a piping bag and coat inside of each metal cake ring with cooking spray. Line inside of each cake mold with acetate. Pipe the mousse into each cake ring, filling 3/4 of the way to the top. Gently press each frozen cake ring (topped with the ganache) into the ring with the ganache facing downward. The mousse should gradually move up toward the top of the ring. Flatten out the mousse and scrape off any excess mousse. Freeze each cake overnight.
Make the chocolate mirror glaze: first, place your gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to soften. Heat the water, sugar, and a few drops of red food gel on the stovetop until the mixture reaches 222 F. In a separate bowl, mix the glucose (or corn syrup) and cream together then microwave for one minute until warm. Now pour this into the pan holding the sugar/water mixture, whisking continuously, then bring to a boil. Add the cocoa powder, remove from the heat and continue to mix.
Squeeze out the excess moisture from the gelatin leaves, then place in a pitcher or large measuring cup. Pour the sugar/cocoa mixture on top of the gelatin and mix with an immersion blender until all bubbles are gone. Let temperature reduce to 104 F (40 C) while preparing your cake molds.
To unmold the frozen entremet cakes, use a hair dryer to heat up the sides of the cake ring for a few seconds, then gently push the cake out of the mold onto a cooling rack placed on top of a baking sheet. Remove the acetate sheet from the cake. Before applying the glaze to the cake, make sure the glaze temperature is 104 F (40 C). Gradually pour the glaze onto the cake starting from the center outwards, fully covering the top and sides. (The excess glaze that has accumulated in the pan can be scraped up and re-used).
After the glaze settle a few minutes, transfer the cake to a serving dish; decorate with some gold leaf and serve.
Comments: The link associated with the recipe will take you straight to a video showing every single step of the preparation, so even if you have no previous experience with entremet cakes, you’ll be able to tackle it. Here is my way to approach this adventure:
Day one: baked the chocolate cake, wrapped it and froze it
Day two: made the ganache early in the morning, cut cake slices and topped with ganache around noon. Made the mousse and assembled the cake rings around 5pm. Froze everything overnight.
Day three: Made the chocolate mirror glaze, while it cooled to the pouring temperature (I used 110F instead of 104F), I removed the frozen cakes from the rings, took the acetate out, and placed them back in the freezer until the glaze was ready to pour.
The only problem I had – and that was a big problem that led into severe hyperventilation – was right after glazing the cakes. The video gave a super cool tip to hold the cake with a stick to roll the base over sprinkles, but it is VERY important that you do not stick that too deep, or you won’t be able to remove it without destroying the little cake. I almost lost my Zen. So, if you make them, insert the skewer just a little bit, it will be a bit wobbly but then you will remove it without issues, and the gold leaf or another decoration of your choice will hide the small hole left on the glaze.
I was totally thrilled with the outcome! Especially because I had not worked with mirror glaze in such a long time. Consider investing in a Bamix handheld mixer, it is the best tool to remove bubbles from this type of glaze, although for extra safety I always pass it through a fine sieve (they did not use it in the video, but I advise you to incorporate this extra step). I’ve had the Bamix for many years, found a great deal on eBay at the time, probably around 2018.
This is a real rich dessert, we shared one and then Phil had a couple of bites from the second one, leftover was his breakfast next day. If you don’t have gold leaf to decorate the top, a small fondant decoration or even sprinkles will do.
I truly enjoyed making these cakes, and now I wonder if I really need a super special occasion to justify bringing it to our table… Life is short, not a bad idea to indulge every once in a while, right?
Bewitching Kitchen 