You and any kid in your family are going to fall in love with this rainbow polka dot cake! Made with just yogurt drink, colorful jelly cones and agar-agar powder, this jelly cake is light, refreshing, and ready in no time. It's the easiest cake you'll ever make and perfect for any day or party!

Rainbow Polka Dot Cake

This yogurt polka dot cake is technically more of a jelly than a cake. Though, you can make it in a round shape that makes it look like a cake and actually enjoy or serve it as a "cake." Some people use cream and a cracker base in their recipes to make this a real cake, which is great. But, you know, sometimes you just want something light and refreshing on a hot day. So my recipe here is great for those of you who are looking for a no-bake or quick and easy desserts. If you're interested in more of my refreshing recipes, be sure to check out my Thai-style Shaved Ice Dessert, Red Rubies (Tub Tim Grob), Thai Sticky Rice Pudding with Corn, Raspberry Lime Vodka, and Butterfly Pea Tea Lemonade recipes.

In Thailand, this dessert has been a hit for quite some time. Most of us call it "Cake Yogurt Pipo - เค้กโยเกิร์ตปีโป้" ...I suppose, to you, the words cake and yogurt make sense there. But Pipo? Keep on reading to find out what it is 🙂

Just a little heads-up, you won't normally see this dessert in shops. It's something that people tend to make themselves at home because of how easy and inexpensive it is. The ingredients are simple and you don't even need an oven to make it.

Perfect Time for this Rainbow Polka Dot Cake

The rainbow cake here is perfect for any day, any weekend, or even birthday parties! Both kids and adults love it. I mean, who doesn't love a polka dot cake? And because it's so easy to make, if you're a parent, you might want to take an opportunity to make this cake with your children. This way, they'll get to enjoy both the process of making it and the cake itself! I can assure you that you can definitely make this agar-agar cake happen with your children around or even with them as your little helpers.

I live in Thailand where it's always hot so this is my go-to treat when I want something that can be whipped up in no time and doesn't require a lot of ingredients.

Ingredients

As cute as this cake is, there are only 3 ingredients involved in making it, which are as follows:

A Yogurt Drink: You can choose any brand or flavor you want, but remember this is going to affect the color of your "cake." I like to use the mixed fruit flavor because it tastes good and also gives me an off white base. This will make the colors of your rainbow polka dots pop.
Fruit Jelly Cones: There is a very popular brand of jelly cones that (almost) every Thai kid lives on. The brand is Pipo. There are 25 jelly cones in a packet of Pipo and it costs just about one dollar here in Thailand! In it, you get assorted fruit flavored and colored jelly cones (shhhhhh...these are so great when frozen the green ones are the best!) You can check my link above for reference. But if you can't find this brand or it's too expensive where you live, you can use a different brand of jelly cones to create this polka dot cake. If you really can't find any jelly cones, go for gelatin dessert mixes. Note that you will have to make different flavors and use cone molds to get the round shape and different colors.
Agar-Agar Powder: Agar-agar is the plant or vegan substitute for gelatin. It's made from seaweed and you can use it to make jellies. However, generally speaking, agar makes jellies more firm than gelatin. But you can adjust the amount of liquid to give your jellies that jiggly texture if you want.

Instructions

Pour the yogurt drink into a pot. Add the agar-agar powder to the drink, stir constantly for a few minutes. Then, let sit for 10 minutes to soften the powder.
Slice the jelly cones into round pieces.
Set the pot of yogurt drink and agar-agar powder over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly so that the powder is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
Arrange the sliced jelly cones at the bottom of your bowl or mold.
Add the yogurt drink and agar mixture to the bowl by running it over the back of a spoon until finished so that your jelly cones don't move.
Let set at room temperature for 20-30 minutes
Once it is set, use a silicone spatula to unmold the cake. Place a dish over the bowl and flip the bowl.
Cut the cake into slices and garnish with more jelly cones to serve. If you'd like to serve it cold, put it in the fridge first and serve when cold enough.

Making It Vegan

If you want to make a vegan polka dot cake, simply make sure that the jelly cones you're using are vegan. If you can't find any, unsurprisingly you can make your own jelly cones with agar-agar powder. Just use the same ratio as the base of the cake. Then, you want to replace the yogurt drink with plant-based milk and add as much sugar and lemon juice as you prefer to it. These two ingredients will give your cake that refreshing sweet and sour flavor that can lift your mood. Again, make sure the liquid and agar-agar powder ratio is still the same as the base of the cake.

Storing the Leftovers

This cake will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days (but trust me, if you make it for a party, it will be a crowd-pleaser and you won't need to do that!). You can put it back into the bowl and cover it with the plate that you used to flip it.

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