What’s a dot cake, you ask? Well, it’s the latest viral bake doing the rounds on social media and thankfully, it’s a dessert trend we are fully on board with. Inspired by the original Dot Cakes bakery in New York, it’s essentially a sprinkle-covered mini cupcake with a perfectly flat top, finished with a generous layer of icing and sprinkles galore. They look incredibly pretty and we’ve already seen loads of fun variations online.
For our recipe, we’ve kept things fairly simple, using our classic one-bowl, super fluffy birthday cake recipe as the base, topped with a decadent frosting and lots (and lots) of sprinkles. But our version comes with a little surprise hidden in the centre too, helping to balance out all that sweetness and making them even harder to resist.
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For the cake
- 200 g unsalted butter, chopped, plus extra to grease
- 50 ml milk
- 225 g caster sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 225 g plain flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- lemon curd, jam or Biscoff spread (optional)
For the icing
- 200 g salted butter
- 300 g icing sugar
- 2 Tbsp. double cream or milk
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla paste
- Step 1Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) gas 5 and lightly grease the bases and sides of 2 x 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich tins. Line the bases with baking paper.
- Step 2Heat the butter and milk in a pan until melted and steaming. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl using a handheld electric whisk for 5min until very voluminous and glossy.
- Step 3Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture then quickly beat to combine. Gradually pour in the hot milk mixture, beating to combine.
- Step 4Divide the batter between the prepared tins. Bake for 30-35min, until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tins.
- Step 5For the buttercream, whip the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the icing sugar, cream and vanilla paste.
- Step 6Once the cake is cool, using a cookie cutter/s the same size as your chosen cup, cut out your mini cakes. Slice in half horizontally and begin to layer your dot cake cups using the sponge and preferred spread as a filling, finishing the top with buttercream and scraping away any excess so it is level.
- Step 7Dunk your cup into a bowl of sprinkles to create that dot crust.
GH TIPS: Short on time but really want to give these a go? Try shop-bought sponge cake and buttercream for a DIY version.
If you’re not excited by classic vanilla cake, this also works brilliantly with our red velvet cake recipe!
If 100’s and 1000’s isn’t your thing, you could opt for mini chocolate buttons or chips, or grated chocolate for a different texture.
Easy cake recipes
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes – just don’t give her too much chilli! With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
Frankie is the new Junior Food Content Producer, developing, testing and refining recipes, as well as creating fun, educational content across the GH Kitchen’s print and digital platforms. While studying Communications and Media, her passion for bringing people together through food quickly found its place in the kitchen, leading to a career shaped by hands-on experience in the hospitality industry. Now, she brings that same energy and creativity into the world of food publishing.
Previously, Frankie trained as both a baker and chef at Landrace Bakery and Upstairs restaurant in Bath, Somerset. She has also worked as a freelance assistant food stylist and private chef in London, combining a love of beautiful presentation with flavour-led, seasonal cooking.
