The internet is eating up the dot cake. Watch foodies line up for a bite
This cake trend is spreading all over the place, with fans lining up to get a taste. The Dotcake treats are blowing up on social media.
The new trending dessert is a sprinkle lover’s dream.
The Dot Cup, a single-serve cup of sponge cake generously topped with frosting and nonpareil sprinkles, quickly became the internet’s latest over-the-top stereotype, and videos about the newly viral sweet treat racked up hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms, namely TikTok.
In between taste tests and DIY recipes, Dot Cups have been a popular item since late April, with New York-based content creators (and self-proclaimed foodies) racing to Manhattan’s Butterfield Market or their local grocery store to sample or recreate the crunchy, colorful sweet treat for themselves.
“Guess what I have? An 11 dot cake. So let’s try it,” Daniel Ferron said on TikTok on May 21. “It tastes like a chewy funfetti cake.”
In a June 4 statement published in USA TODAY, Alex Posner, owner of The Dotcakes, addressed the newfound popularity behind Dotcups, calling the experience “incredibly exciting and honestly a little overwhelming.”
“We developed the first Dotcake in 2017, so it’s really special to see people discovering and falling in love with it all these years later,” Posner said.
While users have praised Dotcups’ unique look and taste, some couldn’t help but notice that the viral dessert resembles cortadillo, a Mexican bakery staple with its square shape, nonpareil sprinkles, and bright pink frosting.
The similarities between Dotcakes and Cortadillo may be striking, but the inspiration behind the viral dessert comes from “an entirely different place.”
“The original dot cake was created as a gift for friends and family. I was looking for a creative and artistic way to decorate the cake while also making it easy to transport and serve,” Posner said. “Nonpareil sprinkles have become our signature because they create a fun look that is clean, colorful, and feels unique.”
At Dot Cake, “orders have increased abnormally”
Posner, who co-owns the bakery and her mother, is still riding the new wave of popularity, and demand hasn’t slowed, Posner told Today. The “abnormal increase in orders” began around April 24, several months after the partnership with Butterfield began.
Posner expressed similar sentiments to USA TODAY, saying everything “happened much faster than we expected.”
“We don’t believe it was caused by a single moment. Instead, many creators started sharing Dotcups and Dotcakes online, and people seemed to connect with the nostalgia, visual appeal, and joy the products brought,” Posner said. “Social media has certainly accelerated things, but I think people are ultimately responding to things that feel fun, relatable, and celebratory.”
Ironically, amidst all the success, Posner acknowledged that they were “incredibly lucky,” though he said, “I don’t know if we’re going to be in the lineup, which is really cool.”
Where to get Dotcake’s Dotcups
Dot Cups are available from several different locations, including Butterfield Market in Manhattan and Posner’s Bakery in Roslyn, New York. The Dotcakes website allows online ordering of certain products, but “availability is subject to demand and production capacity.”
Dot cake products vary in price, with individual dot cups in a rainbow mix typically selling for $10 at cake shops and $11 at retailers such as Butterfield Market.
“Our focus now is to ensure we can meet the incredible level of interest while maintaining the quality that made the product successful in the first place,” Posner said.
