LEMON DOT CAKES

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

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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17Nov2025

VANILLA-CHAI CUPCAKES

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

A celebration of Fall in cupcake format… Decorated with tiny tuile cookies, in the shape of maple leaves.

VANILLA-CHAI CUPCAKES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

makes 10 cupcakes

120g all-purpose flour
150g granulated sugar
50g butter, unsalted and at room temperature
1 large egg
140mL milk
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
1 tsp chai powder (or make a spice mix of your liking

Heat the oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with paper baking cups.

Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter cut in small pieces in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low until the butter is in very small pieces, almost like sand.

Whisk the egg with the milk, vanilla and chai powder, and add slowly to the mixer running in low-speed. Once it is almost smooth, increase the speed to high for a couple of minutes, scraping the bottom of the bowl once.

Stop the mixer and make sure the batter is fully smooth, mixing by hand with a spatula. Add batter to lined pan, filling half-way full only. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
Leave cool completely before decorating.

For the tuile cookies:
20g egg whites
20g melted butter
20g granulated sugar
20g all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients and whisk well. Make sure butter is liquid but not too warm. Spread over your template, lift the template gently. Bake at 375F for 5 to 7 minutes, until fully cooked. Air-brush if you like, draw the details with a fine tip pen.

For the buttercream, use this recipe, starting with 226g of butter. Separate in two batches, dye one light brown, leave the other plain. Spoon tow lines of icing over a plastic wrap, make a little sausage and insert in a piping bag fitted with 1M tip. Ice the cookies when fully cool, add sprinkles and the tuile decorations.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These cupcakes are wonderful for Fall, particularly if you make the maple leaf decorations. You can also use fondant or modeling chocolate with a silicone mold, but I was anxious to try my hands at the template I had sitting in my drawer for a while. I have not found it where I bought, it is out of stock, but you can see it here.

The Chai powder is a great ingredient, I’ve been using it in cookies, macarons, and now on cupcakes. Available in the place that sells it all (click here), and that I keep trying to fight against but don’t have enough will power, apparently.

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18Oct2025

FRIENDLY GHOST CUPCAKES (NO FONDANT!)

Posted in Cake by sallybr

The idea for these cupcakes came from this recent post in a blog I love… She added the disclaimer of “NO FONDANT” in her title and I decided to do the same because the first thing that comes to mind when you see these babies is… wow, that is A LOT of fondant! No, friends. The ghost “clothing” is made of modeling chocolate! How cool is that?

The road to make these babies was full of trepidation. I opted for cupcakes after exchanges with Haniela, the Cookie Goddess who is also an amazing baker in all fronts. She had made cupcakes covered in fondant (check them out here) so my adventure was a cross between two ideas.

First things first. I made chocolate cupcakes using this adorable pan from Wilton, the same that Haniela used in her bake. The result was a complete disaster. I forgot to spray the cavities (can you believe it?) and the cakes did not release. I was left with a mess of cake crumbs. I was ready to bag the project for that day, but Hani gave me the brilliant idea of making cake pops in the pan. I gathered the crumbs, mixed with a simple American chocolate buttercream, and pressed into the cavities. Froze for 1 hour.

That worked like a charm. Brought the pan to room temperature, dipped the bottom in hot water for 5 minutes, and they all came out perfectly domed. After that, I gave them a light coating with chocolate buttercream and placed back in the freezer while I worked on the modeling chocolate.

MODELING CHOCOLATE USING WILTON CANDY MELTS

Melt 15 oz WHITE WILTON candy melts gently in the microwave

Heat 1/3 cup light corn syrup in the microwave for just 10 seconds until barely warm

Mix corn syrup with melted candy, stir. When it forms a dough, stop immediately.

Allow it to sit at room temperature, covered in plastic for 2 hours or overnight.

Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper, cut circles large enough to drape over the cakes.

Cut circles for eyes using a small piping tip. Glue sprinkles, and if desired, spray with diamond dust or another type of glitter of your choice.

I am so in love with this project! Maybe one day I will be brave enough to do the large cake from Sprinklebakes blog, but for the time being I am happy with these. Huge thank you to Haniela for saving my day after the baking fiasco.

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24May2025

OREO CUPCAKES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

A fun departure on the classic chocolate cupcake, I added some crushed Oreos to a favorite recipe of mine, and some also went into the buttercream. If there was any doubt about the nature of these babies, I dealt with the issue by sticking half an Oreo on top. The drizzle of ganache is optional, but why would you skip it?

OREO CUPCAKES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

for the cupcakes:
120 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
50 grams (1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons) natural cocoa powder
225 grams (1 + 1/8 cups) granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
85 grams (about 1/2 cup) grapeseed oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
75 grams (1/3 cup) milk, room temperature
170 grams (3/4 cup) very hot water
4 Oreo cookies, crushed

for the Oreo buttercream:
1 cup (227 g)) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 + ½ cups (300 g) powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 to 2 tbsp heavy cream
1/3 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

for the ganache drizzle:
¼ cup (42 g) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp heavy cream

Makes12 cupcakes

Heat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk very well to fully combine the dry ingredients.

Add the oil into the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed with a hand mixer until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the bowl and continue mixing until smooth.

With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the milk and then the hot water. Continue mixing until everything is evenly incorporated, the batter will be super thin, do not worry about it. Fold in the crushed Oreos. Place the batter in cupcake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. This will take 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Make the ganache and allow it to cool. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In another small bowl, heat the cream in a microwave for about 30 seconds, or until bubbling. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and allow the mixture to sit for 2 minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir the mixture until smooth and shiny. Use it when barely warm, so that you won’t melt the buttercream.

Make the buttercream. Whip the softened butter for 5 minutes with a paddle attachment. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and mix until incorporated, in low-speed. Add the heavy cream to adjust consistency, then the crumbs of Oreos. Mix at medium-high for a minute or so until smooth. Frost the fully cool cupcakes. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to set. Then add the drizzle, and a half of Oreo on top. Sprinkles are optional.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Most Oreo cupcakes call for black cocoa, but I prefer a less intense version, so I used a considerably milder recipe. The addition of crushed Oreos was my way to amplify the chocolate taste. Because these cakes rely on oil, they are super moist to start with and stay this way for a few days. Crushed Oreos in the buttercream give a super pleasing texture. Make sure they are finely crumbed. And yes, you crumble the cookie and the filling. Easy!

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28Mar2025

A COTTON CANDY DUET

Posted in Cake, Cookies by sallybr

A bit of an unusual flavor, but so much fun!
Cupcakes or cookies? You decide!

COTTON CANDY CUPCAKES

I cannot share the recipe for the cupcakes, but the cookbook is a definite must-have if you like to bake cakes. It is full of fun ideas, unexpected flavor combinations and cute decoration ideas. Girls Just Want to Bake Cupcakes, by Courtney Carey. It is inspired by the 80’s and each recipe has a song associated with it. Huge trip down memory lane! I adore this cookbook…

In the book they suggest dividing the batter in two portions and adding pink to half, blue to half. I totally forgot about it. So my cupcakes were pure white. The frosting is marbled and the cotton candy flavor comes from LorAnn (click here). I used Cotton Candy jelly bean to decorate each cake.

MOVING ON…
COTTON CANDY CUTOUT COOKIES

COTTON CANDY SUGAR COOKIES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1 cup (227g) room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1/8 cup agave nectar
3/4 tsp Cotton Candy Flavoring (LorAnn)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or paste
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour

Royal icing in pastel pink, blue and white, flooding consistency.
Royal icing in thick consistency for cotton candy (I used pink)
Royal icing in piping consistency for writing and cone (I used gold)
Sprinkles for edges.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine baking powder, salt and flour in a bowl. Reserve.

Cream butter and sugar until smooth, at least 2 minutes. Add the agave nectar and mix until combined.

Beat in cotton candy flavoring, vanilla and egg. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until a dough forms.

You can roll it right away or place in the fridge for 30 minutes if you prefer.

Roll the dough, cut shapes and freeze for 10 minutes before baking until slightly golden at the edges. Depending on the size of the cookie, 10 to 14 minutes.

Decorate with Royal icing as desired.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Decorating these cookies is quite straightforward, just pipe the border with white icing and coat with sprinkles. Then flood the whole cookie with three pastel colors and marble them with a spatula. Allow it to set and add the details. Once it all set, I painted the letters and the cones with Rose Gold luster powder from SugarArt. I am not sure one can really detect the flavor of Cotton Candy but they were delicious anyway…