To celebrate Fuzz's 13th birthday, I made the famous "Neapolitan Cake" which has a layer of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Truth be told, Fuzz wanted nothing to do with this cake because she doesn't care for strawberry cake mix, but her friends thought it was neat. I did too.
Since we had two birthday cakes (the other was marble), I made this as a small, 8 inch layer cake using ⅓ of a box of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cake mix. For a 9 inch cake or an 8 inch cake with thicker layers, you'll want to use ½ a box of each. And don't worry about the leftover cake mix because you can either freeze it until you're ready for another Neapolitan cake or use it to make small batches of cake mix cookies. This cake was so fun! Now that I've made the box version, I'm going to try developing an easy, streamlined, scratch version.
Recipe
Neapolitan Cake
Ingredients
- ⅓ of a 16.5 oz box strawberry cake mix 154 grams or about 1 cup Duncan Hines brand
- ⅓ of a 16.5 oz box of vanilla cake mix 154 grams or about 1 cup
- ⅓ of a 16.5 oz box of chocolate cake mix 154 grams or about 1 cup
- Oil eggs and water as directed on the box of each (probably 3 eggs, 1 cup water and ⅓ or ½ cups oil)
Vanilla Frosting
- 2 sticks 8 oz unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar plus more if desired
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Whole milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 8 inch round metal pans and line with circles of parchment. The strawberry cake mix is sticky! Dust pans with flour.
- Have ready 3 small to medium size mixing bowls. Measure out your cake mix in each bowl. If you have a scale, that's the best way to do it.
- Add eggs, oil, and water using ⅓ the amounts called for on the packages. Beat the cake batters as directed with a handheld electric mixer. Pour into the pans and bake for about 22 minutes or until they spring back when touched.
- Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn from the pans and let cool completely.
- Frosting: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating and scraping the bowl. Add the cream and vanilla and continue beating, then add the milk until you reach a consistency that works for you. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
- Ice and stack the cakes with a very thin layer of this frosting, then set the cake on a parchment lined tray and put in the freezer. This step is optional, but frozen cakes are easier to frost.
- Once you have your "crumb" layer (thinly frosted cake), spread the vanilla icing all over the cake and decorate.
Notes
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!!