A colorful cake trend is drawing long lines, sellouts and even international visitors as social media users scramble to get their hands on a dessert that’s gone viral online.
Known as Dot Cakes, the individual cakes topped with a thick layer of rainbow nonpareil sprinkles have exploded in popularity on TikTok and Instagram over the past month.
Videos featuring the desserts have attracted millions of views, while customers line up outside Butterfield Market locations on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on restock days hoping to purchase one before they sell out.
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The cakes are made by Dot Cakes, a mother-daughter business in Roslyn, New York, and have been carried by Butterfield Market since last fall.
The cakes, which sell for $11 each at Butterfield, are available in flavors including classic white, vanilla chip, chocolate and red velvet.
Joelle Obstaz, one of Butterfield Market’s owners, told Fox News Digital that demand surged after several social media posts attracted millions of views.
“About three to four weeks ago, there were a few reels that hit Instagram and TikTok that had millions of views,” Obstaz said.
The sudden demand forced the century-old market to quickly rethink how it distributed the cakes.
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Since customers often begin lining up well before the cakes become available, Butterfield created a ticket system to manage demand.
A ticket allows customers to purchase up to two Dot Cakes.
“The lines are still going strong,” Obstaz said.
Butterfield receives about 1,280 Dot Cakes across its two locations every Wednesday and Sunday, according to Obstaz, and the cakes routinely sell out. The popularity has attracted customers from well beyond Manhattan.
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“We’ve been getting people from all over coming in from other countries … looking for Dot Cakes,” Obstaz said.
The trend has also spread online, where users have begun posting homemade versions of the cakes in an effort to recreate the viral dessert.
“It’s definitely created a buzz online that people are recreating Dot Cakes everywhere,” Obstaz said.
For Butterfield, the attention marks another chapter in the evolution of a family business that has been operating for more than 100 years. The upscale grocery and specialty food store calls itself “authentic New York” and has been in business on Lexington Avenue since 1915. In September 2020, it opened another location on Madison Avenue and East 85th Street.
The Dot Cake craze is not the only product drawing crowds to Butterfield.
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The frozen yogurt offerings also continue to attract long lines, with customers often waiting to get their hands on popular flavors.
Butterfield has built a social media following through collaborations with influencers Bridgette and Danielle Pheloung, as well as Health by Hunter.
Obstaz said those relationships developed organically through friendships.
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“It’s just people that we’re friends with that we want to have fun with,” she said.
Despite the rapid rise of the Dot Cake craze, Obstaz said the goal remains the same.
“We’ve tried to hold onto our core values while embracing all the new fun things we can,” she said.
