My old Neapolitan Layer Cake was overdue for new photos, and once I started working on it, I realized the recipe itself could use an update too. The original version relied on partial boxes of three different cake mix flavors, which is great if cake mix is on sale, but I wanted a simpler, more streamlined approach. This cake is obviously not supposed to be fancy, but it's a fun little project if you happen to have a box of cake mix.
One Box Yellow Cake Mix
For this new version, I used just one box of yellow cake mix and divided the batter into three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. It's a cleaner method that still gives you distinct layers without opening multiple boxes. The chocolate and strawberry layers are flavored with basic pantry ingredients, so there's nothing complicated going on here.
Equipment
The process flows pretty easily, but you will need three mixing bowls and a kitchen scale to divide the batter evenly. You could eyeball it by volume and probably be fine, but using a scale makes the whole process faster and more precise.
Neapolitan Cake Frosting
The frosting is a classic American-style buttercream, which works especially well with a Neapolitan cake. If you want to keep things even simpler, you can absolutely use your favorite canned frosting instead. Or try chocolate frosting! So far I've been using vanilla on my Neapolitans, but chocolate would be fun too.
Cupcakes or a Bundt Cake
I tested a small amount of batter as a cupcake but just drizzling different colors of batter into a cupcake cup. It worked just fine. I think you could also make a really pretty Neapolitan Bundt Cake using this recipe. Just layer the batters in a Bundt pan and bake using the time indicated on the box. Since I haven't tested it as a Bundt I can't say, but I'm sure it would work. For a Bundt, I'd probably use a chocolate ganache glaze.
Recipe
Neapolitan Cake with Cake Mix Only
Ingredients
- 15.25 oz package Pillsbury Moist Supreme Yellow Cake Mix (432 grams)
- 3 large eggs (150 grams)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water (230 grams)
Chocolate Batter Add-Ins
- 3 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder (18 grams)
- 3 tablespoons hot water or coffee (42 grams)
- 1 tablespoon oil (12 grams)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (12 grams)
Strawberry Batter Add-Ins
- 2 tablespoons strawberry gelatin powder (22 grams)
- 1 tablespoon water (14 grams)
Vanilla Batter Add-In
- 1 tablespoon water (14 grams)
Fluffy White Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (230 grams)
- 3½ to 4 cups powdered sugar (420 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla or 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 2-4 tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream (60 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8- inch round cake pans. For this type of cake, I use cake pans that are only about 1 ½ inches high.
- Weigh your mixing bowl so you'll know how much batter you have. For instance, my stand mixer bowl weighs 24 oz. With batter it was about 54 oz, so I had about 30 oz batter.
- In the main mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, oil, eggs and water on medium speed for 2 minutes with an electric mixer.
- Once you have your vanilla batter, you will make the chocolate and strawberry batters.
- To make the chocolate batter, combine cocoa powder and warm water (or coffee) in another mixing bowl and stir until smooth, then stir in the oil and sugar. Set the bowl on the scale, set tare to "0", add 10 oz of vanilla batter, then stir until you have a uniform chocolate batter.
- To make the strawberry batter, mix 2 tablespoons of gelatin powder, 10 oz of vanilla batter and 1 tablespoon of water together in another mixing bowl until uniformly pink.
- Lastly, add an extra 1 tablespoon of water to the remaining vanilla batter and stir until smooth.
- Pour each color of the batter into a pan. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 23 to 27 minutes or until cakes appear done and springs back when touched.
- Let the cakes cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then turn from pans and let cool completely.
Fluffy White Frosting
- Beat the butter in a large mixing bowl until light and creamy.
- Gradually add the half the powdered sugar, beating on low or medium just until it is mixed.
- Add the salt and about a tablespoon of milk. Add remaining sugar, vanilla and more milk as needed and beat until light and creamy, stopping often to scrape the side of the bowl. Adjust with however much milk or cream you need.
safiye says
I’m thinking a cream cheese frosting would really be tasty with maybe some type of chocolate as decoration. Kind of like an ice cream sundae using neapolitan ice cream and hot fudge topping.
The strawberry layer looks really moist and dense–not sure about that.I recommedded everone.Thank you...
Katrina says
Happy 13th Birthday, Fuzz! Parker will be 13 next week. Yes, that is so hard to believe.
Emily says
Happy birthday to Fuzz! This cake looks so good! I love the layers. I haven't had Neapolitan ice cream in so long.
T. Martin says
Time is REALLY flying! Happy 13th Birthday to the birthday girl.
I'll be very interested and on the lookout for that scratch version of this cake.
Debbie says
What?? Your Emma is a teenager? Where did the time go? Happy belated birthday. Cake looks yummy!
Sue says
Happy Birthday to Fuzz! It's an attractive cake. Hopefully she enjoyed the marble cake more.
kim fluck says
Eye-catching indeed. That photo and my memories of Neopolitan Ice Cream sure made me nostalgic. When I was young, my mom made me pink cake and pink frosting. I imagine she used a strawberry cake mix (?) but I am pretty sure, for the frosting, she used Nestle Quick Strawberry Milk Mix. I remember loving it! I always enjoy seeing what you bake, Anna!
Anna says
Cheryl, I worked up a recipe on paper but need to test it. For the scratch strawberry cake, I'll probably stick with with a combination of strawberry extract and strawberry jam rather than go with the fresh strawberries. The strawberry in traditional Neapolitan ice cream still has artificial strawberry flavoring and added pink color. If I just used strawberries, the color would probably be an off brown or brick red. But maybe the extract will be less overpoweringly artificial flavored than the cake mix.
Cheryl says
Really looking forward to a scratch recipe. I generally don't like artificial strawberry (nor lemon) flavors but the cake is really an eye-catcher. What fun if it was 6 layers! I wonder about the flavors with a chocolate icing or a vanilla icing with a drip of chocolate around the edge like a fudge sauce.
Anna says
Megan, I know!! College seems right around the corner.
We had dinner out earlier in the week, so the birthday party was at home (and catered by Chuy's).
megan says
13?!?! How is that possible?
Although Sabrina will be graduating high school this year, so who am I to say!
Happy birthday to her, are you going anywhere special for dinner?
Amy @ What Jew Wanna Eat says
Such a pretty cake! Happy Birthday, Fuzz!!