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Neapolitan cake
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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

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.

Video

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