If your social media feeds have been filled with colorful dot cakes of late, you’re not alone. The bite-size treats have quickly become this summer’s “it” dessert. The fad started at The Dotcakes, a bakery based in Roslyn, New York (not to be confused with our own Rosslyn), which refers to its single-serving sweets as Dotcups. The original versions feature various cake flavors (white, chocolate, vanilla chip or red velvet) topped with frosting and colorful nonpareils. Now, local bakeries are putting their own spin on the trend. Here’s where you can find dot cakes and dot-cake-inspired sweets near you.
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The Sweet District
This newcomer to Rosslyn food hall Upside on Moore is a sweet collab courtesy of DMV confectioners Just Ron Chocolate and Frost & Flourish. Warning: Its Sprinkles Dot Cake ($9), a rich little chocolate cake bomb with buttercream frosting, may be a gateway to a world of other temptations, including strawberry-matcha cookies, tropical mousse cake and Filipino halo-halo (shaved ice with flan, ube soft serve and a rainbow of colorful fruity toppings). 1700 N. Moore St., Arlington (Rosslyn)
Fluffy Thoughts Cakes
Known for its picture-perfect cakes, this McLean bakery is all in on the dot cake trend. The $5 treat is made with two layers of vanilla cake, filled with vanilla buttercream and topped with rainbow nonpareils. If they prove to be popular, the bakery says it will introduce more flavors. 6257 Old Dominion Drive, McLean
Lucy Q’s Cakery and Candy Shoppe
Everything is custom-made to order, including the dot cakes, at this home-based bakery in Gainesville, Virginia. The owner’s husband is the proprietor of the Outback Steakhouse in the Arlington Forest Shopping Center, so cake-craving Arlingtonians can place an order online and pick up there. Prices run from $4-$7. 4821 First St. N., Arlington
Bakeshop
This beloved homegrown bakery with locations in Clarendon and Falls Church City has never not had dot cakes on the menu. Treat yourself to rainbow bedazzled white cupcakes with vanilla buttercream ($3.75 each; buy 5, get 1 free), or order a full-size confetti cake (pricing varies by size) and customize it with your preferred cake flavor (chocolate, vanilla or strawberry) and icing flavor. On weekends, the bakery sells confetti cakes with rainbow sprinkles by the slice for $7. 1025 N. Fillmore St., Arlington; 100 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church
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Sunday Morning Bakehouse
Leave it to Caroline Yi’s fairytale bakery to put its own spin on the latest trend. Here, the dotted delicacy is a brioche doughnut filled with birthday cake crème patisserie and encrusted in sprinkles. Other hard-to-resist goodies include laminated croissants in flavors such as chocolate, almond and blackberry-pistachio, and chocolate chunk cookies with sea salt. 1796 Chain Bridge Road, Tysons
Caboose Commons
Give us a dot cake, but make it a drink. This brewpub’s crafty baristas have concocted a Dot Cheesecake Latte ($8.25), made with two shots of espresso, vanilla syrup and the milk of your choice. It’s crowned with cream cheese foam and the requisite sprinkles. 2918 Eskridge Road, Fairfax (Mosaic District)
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