Everyone is going wild right now for dot cakes – taking inspiration from New York bakery, The Dotcakes.
It’s a pretty simple proposition: sponge, decanted into individual pots, topped with frosting and an outrageous number of sprinkles.
These are the cutest treats to make with children, who’ll love cutting them out and pushing them into a rainbow of sweet confetti.
Ours feature our best chocolate fudge cake recipe, and light-as-air vanilla meringue buttercream.
Ingredients
How many this recipe makes depends on your pot size – you'll need small paper or plastic straight-sided dessert cups
- 340g plain flour
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 280g caster sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp treacle
- 4 large eggs
- 280ml vegetable oil
- 280ml milk
For the icing:
- 4 large egg whites
- 200g caster sugar
- 175g unsalted butter, soft
- Pinch sea salt
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
To finish:
- Large pack of rainbow sprinkles
Method
1. Heat the oven to 170C. Line a large roasting tin.
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sugar.
3. In a jug, mix the milk, oil, treacle and eggs.
4. Make a well in the dry mix and pour in a third of the liquid mix. Blend with a hand/freestanding mixer. Beat until smooth, and gradually mix in the rest of the liquid ingredients. It needs to be super smooth with no lumps.
5. Allow the mix to sit for 5 minutes.
6. Pour into your prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes. It should be firm but bouncy. Let it cool completely, then use your pots to cut out rounds of cake, pushing them into the pots gently.
7. To make the icing, set egg whites in a very clean glass bowl over a pan of simmering water with the sugar. Whisk loosely until the sugar has dissolved – rub a little between your fingers, you shouldn’t feel any sugar crystals. Add the vanilla extract.
8. Pour into another clean glass bowl and beat until very thick, holding its shape. Now add the butter, cube by cube, beating it in well between additions. Finally, beat in the vanilla extract.
9. Smooth icing over the cakes taking it right to the top. Tip your sprinkles onto a plate or a shallow dish, and smoosh the cakes into them to coat all over.
