Viral Dot Cakes Recipe

These homemade viral dot cakes are soft, sweet and covered in colorful nonpareil sprinkles. They start with a vanilla cake mix and turn into the cutest mini layered cakes everyone wants to try, with creamy frosting tucked inside.

Easy Homemade Dot Cakes

I love a fun viral recipe, especially when it’s one you can actually make at home without a long list of fussy ingredients. My teens could not wait to make these dot cakes, and they had the best time in the kitchen layering, frosting and adding all those colorful dots.

They remind me of our Japanese cheesecake and brownie cinnamon rolls because they are the kind of recipe people see online and instantly want to try for themselves. We liked them best chilled, when the topping has a little crack and the frosting sets up just enough for the perfect bite.

Ingredient Notes

Find the full recipe with printable directions.

• Vanilla cake mix: A box of cake mix makes these dot cakes easy and gives them that soft, classic vanilla flavor. Check the size of your box before you start. This recipe was tested with a 15.25 ounce cake mix.
• Instant vanilla pudding mix: The dry pudding mix goes right into the batter and helps make the mini cakes extra soft and tender.
• Eggs, oil and warm water: These are the base ingredients that help the cake mix bake up moist and fluffy.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds a little tang and helps keep the cakes tender. Sour cream also works, or you can make a quick buttermilk substitute with milk and lemon juice.
• Vanilla extract: A little extra vanilla makes the boxed cake mix taste more homemade.
• Vanilla frosting: Store-bought frosting keeps these simple, but you can use homemade buttercream if you prefer.
• Nonpareil sprinkles: These are the tiny round rainbow sprinkles that give dot cakes their signature colorful topping and crackly bite once chilled. Jimmies are softer and will not give quite the same texture.

Equipment Needed

You’ll need 5-ounce ramekins to bake and assemble the mini cakes. Disposable ramekins make them easy to remove and pack back in for frosting, but ceramic ramekins work too as long as they are well greased.

How to Make Viral Dot Cakes

Start by mixing the cake batter until it is smooth and combined, but don’t overmix it. This is still a cake mix recipe, so the goal is soft and fluffy, not overworked.

Fill the ramekins about 2/3 full. Any more than that and the batter can puff over the top while baking.

Bake until the tops are set and a toothpick comes out clean with just a few crumbs. Mine were right around 28 minutes, but start checking at 25 since every oven is a little different.

Let them rest for about 10 minutes, then gently loosen the edges and pop them out. Cool them completely before assembling. Warm cake and frosting are not friends.

Once the cakes are cool, slice each one in half. Add the bottom layer back into the ramekin, spread on a thin layer of frosting, then add the second layer and press it in gently.

You want the cake packed in snugly because that helps hold the shape when you flip it into the sprinkles.

Pour the nonpareils into a shallow dish before you start assembling so the cakes are ready to dip. Frost the top, then flip the ramekin over and press the frosting right into the sprinkles.

This is the fun part, so don’t be stingy with the sprinkles. Chill the finished cakes for 30 to 60 minutes so the topping sets and you get that little crack when you dig in.

Tips for the Best Dot Cake

• Check your cake mix size: This recipe was tested with a 15.25 ounce box of cake mix. Some brands have shrunk to 13.25 ounces, so if yours is smaller, add 2 ounces of flour with a small amount of sugar and a pinch of baking powder mixed in.
• Use a 9×13 pan for another option: Some dot cake recipes use thinner layers baked in a sheet pan, but a single cake layer works well too. You can use a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter to cut circles, then layer them into cups, jars or ramekins with frosting.
• Pack the layers in snugly: Once sliced and frosted, press the layers back into the ramekin so the cake holds its shape when you flip it into the sprinkles.
• Pipe the frosting: You can spoon the frosting on and smooth it out, but piping gives you a more even layer and makes it easier to get that smooth top before dipping into the sprinkles.
• Use plenty of nonpareils: Add a thick layer of sprinkles to a shallow dish so the frosted tops can really press into them. A thin layer makes it harder to get that full dot cake look.
• Chill before serving: The dot cakes taste best cold. A short chill helps the frosting set and gives the sprinkle topping that fun little crack when you take a bite.

Variations

• Change the frosting: Vanilla gives these the classic dot cake look, but chocolate, cream cheese, lemon or strawberry frosting would all be fun.
• Try a different cake flavor: Swap the vanilla cake mix for chocolate, funfetti, lemon, strawberry or red velvet cake mix.
• Use holiday sprinkles: Change the nonpareils to match the season. Red and green for Christmas, pink and red for Valentine’s Day, or pastels for Easter would be so cute.
• Make them birthday party style: Use funfetti cake mix with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles for an easy birthday dessert.