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Neapolitan Cake

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Sometimes deciding on a flavor is hard, but dessert should be easy! So have a slice of this neapolitan cake and let all the day's stress float away. I whipped up a good old American buttercream divided it in three batches and flavored them with vanilla, strawberry reduction, and chocolate. The cake layers are based on my favorite vanilla batter but are again divided and flavored with vanilla strawberry and chocolate.

Neapolitan cake
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Now I will admit to going a bit crazy with the decoration. This is called a petal cake and technically it’s really easy and forgiving but it takes TIME; even if you’re going at MAX speed like I was. But it was worth it (at least to me). I love the tricolored spiral effect and it just looks pretty. Also I should mention that this design is buttercream heavy. Soooo if you like your cakes with less frosting, skip this decoration scheme! The cake actually looked nice with a tricolor crumb coat as you can see in the video but sometimes more is more than more ?

If you’ve tried this cake out then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!

A Few Pointers

  • I used strawberry jam but you can make a fresh fruit reduction if you prefer.
  • You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
  • To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on the shop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
  • The layers all bake for different times. Chocolate was the fastest, followed by vanilla, with strawberry taking about ten minutes longer. Keep an eye out and make sure the centers are set before removing from the oven.

How to make Neapolitan Cake

Neapolitan Cake

  1. Add hulled strawberries and lemon juice to a saucepan over medium heat. After the mixture heats up for a few minutes, mash the strawberries then allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Strain mixture into a bowl. Cover and chill for another 10-15 minutes. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
  2. Mix the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
  3. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Divide the mixture into 3 bowls. Add the cocoa powder to one batch and mix. Add the 3/4 of the strawberry reduction to the second batch and mix. Transfer the three batters into three 6″ cake pans, which have been buttered and floured. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch. Let the strawberry layer bake 5-8 minutes longer. Test with a toothpick. 
  4. Whip the butter for about 5 minutes using a paddle attachment (stand-up mixer). Beat in the confectioner’s sugar slowly. Add the cream and vanilla. Beat until you have an even, fluffy consistency. Dive buttercream into 3 parts. Transfer one vanilla batch to a piping bag and snip off the tip. For the Strawberry Buttercream, Add the rest of the strawberry mixture to a buttercream batch. Add in a few drops of pink food coloring if you want the color to be more vibrant. Mix together until desired consistency. Transfer to a piping bag and snip off the tip.
  5. For the Chocolate Buttercream, Mix cocoa into one batch of buttercream. Transfer to a piping bag and snip off the tip.
  6. Pipe alternating circles between each layer with each buttercream bag. Add layers. 
  7. Pipe and smooth out a crumb coat on the outside of the cake. 
  8. Smooth with an uneven spatula and bench scraper.
  9. Pipe out petals around the entire cake. Stay consistent with the size of each petal.

 

Neapolitan cake
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5 from 73 votes

Neapolitan Cake

A delicious chocolate, strawberry and vanilla cake.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 300kcal
Author John Kanell

Video

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour 213g
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda heaping
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder heaping
  • 3/4 cup butter 176g, unsalted, room temperature
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/2 cup sour cream room temperature
  • 1/2 cup milk room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa
  • 6 ounces strawberries sliced, reduced and strained
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

For the Buttercreams:

  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 3 lb confectioners sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter 225g, room temperature
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons strained strawberry preserves
  • Pink food coloring
  • 1 splash whole milk

Instructions

For the Strawberry Reduction:

  • Add hulled strawberries and lemon juice to a saucepan over medium heat.
  • After the mixture heats up for a few minutes, mash the strawberries then allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • Strain mixture into a bowl. Cover and chill for another 10-15 minutes.

For the Cake:

  • Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
  • Mix the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
  • Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined.
  • Divide the mixture into 3 bowls.
  • Add the cocoa powder to one batch and mix.
  • Add the 3/4 of the strawberry reduction to the second batch and mix.
  • Transfer the three batters into three 6″ cake pans, which have been buttered and floured.
  • Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch. Let the strawberry layer bake 5-8 minutes longer. Test with a toothpick.

For the Buttercreams:

  • Whip the butter for about 5 minutes using a paddle attachment (stand-up mixer).
  • Beat in the confectioner’s sugar slowly.
  • Add the cream and vanilla. Beat until you have an even, fluffy consistency.
  • Dive buttercream into 3 parts.
  • Transfer one vanilla batch to a piping bag and snip off the tip.
  • For the Chocolate Buttercream:
  • Mix cocoa into one batch of buttercream.
  • Transfer to a piping bag and snip off the tip.
  • For the Strawberry Buttercream:
  • Add the rest of the strawberry mixture to a buttercream batch.
  • Add in a few drops of pink food coloring if you want the color to be more vibrant.
  • Mix together until desired consistency.
  • Transfer to a piping bag and snip off the tip.

For the Assembly:

  • Pipe alternating circles between each layer with each buttercream bag.
  • Add layers
  • Pipe and smooth out a crumb coat on the outside of the cake with an uneven spatula.
  • Pipe out petals around the entire cake. Stay consistent with the size of each petal.

Notes

The cake layers will all bake for different times, I'll point out that my strawberry layer needed almost 10 minutes longer than the vanilla so keep a close eye out and make sure the centers are set before removing from oven.
For the strawberry buttercream, you could add more preserve if you’d like or even use the liquid from defrosted frozen strawberries.
If you’re doing a petal design with a crumb coat, it requires A LOT of buttercream. If you're doing a simpler design, you can halve the buttercream.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 155mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 50IU | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 0.4mg
*Nutrition Disclaimer
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