There are times for tried-and-true recipes that you make all the time. For Ree Drummond, that includes family favorites like chicken spaghetti and chocolate sheet cake. But then there are times she branches out. Okay, there are a lot of times she branches out—just look at how many recipes she has on this site!
And when the whole world seems to be talking about the same recipe at the same time, it makes sense that even The Pioneer Woman would want to try it and see what all the hoopla is about. Case in point: Her daughter Alex sent her the latest dessert trend and convinced Ree to make it when she came to visit Drummond Ranch recently. (“Are these 'dot cakes' living rent free in anyone else's brain rn??” Alex said on Instagram. “I need to make them NOW.”)
It’s called the dot cake! If you haven’t seen it yet, feast your eyes on this:
Just look at all those sprinkles! “We had to try it 😂,” Ree said. If you’re wondering what’s underneath that layer of sugary crunch, it’s cake. Essentially, dot cakes are small individual layers of cake and frosting in a small container like a ramekin or jar. They are then flipped upside down and dipped in sprinkles to form a crisp top layer. Typically, those sprinkles are nonpareils, hence the name.
The great thing about dot cakes is that you can pretty much use any cake and frosting combo you want. You can even use a cake mix as a shortcut! Use a round cookie cutter with a circumference about the same as the jar's to cut out the cake, and assembly is as easy as can be. If you’re wondering what cake and frosting flavors Ree went with first, she gave us a view of that, too.
She made vanilla cake and vanilla frosting to go with the rainbow sprinkles. Classic! The only problem? “I will be finding nonpareils in the corners of my kitchen for the next 20 years,” Ree joked. Eh, it’s a small price to pay for such a tasty treat, right? Sometimes you’ve gotta get messy in the name of research.
So, if you’re looking for the dessert of the summer, this is it! They’re great for birthdays, potlucks, and backyard cookouts alike. You can get creative with the flavors or just stick with crowd-pleasers like Ree. Either way, you can’t go wrong! Just maybe make sure you’ve got a dustpan handy in case of some stray sprinkles. 😉
