Neapolitan Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting

Neapolitan Cake


As Paris Pastry's third blogoversary approaches, I thought about the first few posts I wrote that are still one of the most popular. The mille feuille crêpes cake, autumn meringue cake and the neapolitan cake. Three years later my baking skills have improved and certainly the photographs I take are done with more care. But the taste, I wouldn't want to change that.

Last time I made this cake I used three cakes mixes, but this time, everything's made from scratch. Sounds like an awful lot to make three different cake batters, but it wasn't; I just made one cake recipe and added cocoa powder and pureed strawberries to 2 different layers. Et voilà! Out came a gorgeous 3-layer cake that I hope Italians would be proud of. Certainly a looker this cake is! Rating: 4- out of 5.




Neapolitan Cake: adapted from Martha Stewart's Boston Cream Pie

Ingredients:
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup pureed strawberries

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan; set over very low heat.
- With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until thick, lightened in color, and mixture holds a trail for several seconds when beater is lifted, 4 to 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in dry ingredients just until incorporated.
- Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add hot milk mixture to batter; mix just until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Divide batter into 3 equal parts. Mix cocoa powder with one of the batters, and the pureed strawberries with the other. Transfer batters to the three prepared pans, and smooth top.
- Bake until golden and pulling away from sides of pan, 30 to 45 minutes. Cool cakes 10 minutes in pan; remove from pan, and transfer to a rack to cool, right side up.




Whipped Cream Frosting: makes enough for a 3-layer cake

Ingredients:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ⅔ cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions:
- Put heavy cream and ⅓ cup of confectioners' sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Whip up the cream until soft peaks form with an electrix mixer. Add the remaining ⅓ cup confectioners' sugar and mix until whipped cream remains a trail from the electrix mixer.
- Put in the refrigerator and let stiffen for 30 minutes before using.



Neapolitan Cake

Neapolitan Cake

Neapolitan Cake

Comments

Mariel Torres said…
That looks so delish! You seriously have the BEST recipes love
OMG!! This looks too good to be true!!! Have to try this... soon :))
Thanks for all those years of tasty recipes & beautiful pictures... mouthwatering ;)
Anonymous said…
This looks heavenly!
~Karen
http://fashionboardconfessional.blogspot.com
Eliana said…
Oh my dear - this creation almost looks too good to eat. I love it!
Katrina said…
Such a beautiful sight for this ugly rainy day in L.A. ... it looks delicious!
Unknown said…
It looks so pretty; I love the different colors. Happy almost three years of blogging :)
So Domesticated said…
Looks divine... I love whipped cream frosting!
Lian said…
oooh jummie!! erg feestelijk hoor! mooi die kleuren :)
Tip Top Shape said…
As the resident Italian here, I can say we are very proud of this cake. lol Looks delicious!
Juice said…
This looks scrumptious and moist. I'm ready to dig in!
Tia said…
i love this idea! it looks extremely elegant.
Anonymous said…
Delicious!! You are an artist, I have to say!! I love your blog, your photos, your passion! This is "alta pasticceria" I would say in italian!! You should take a look at this website, http://www.manetti.it/index_en.php !! I think it would be the perfect decoration for your amazing recipes! Anita
Anonymous said…
Is there supposed to be vanilla in the ingredients? It is mentioned in the directions.
Paris Pastry said…
Whoops! Yes, forgot to write it in the ingredients :)
Greg said…
It looks quite tasty as it is unusual in terms of food.
nina subramani said…
Hi! I live in India & love your blog and keep salivating at the pictures! I've gathered some courage and want to bake this lovely cake for my daughter...i know she'll be so surprised when its sliced and she sees 3 colours! I have a question ...will adding the strawberry puree make that particular layer moister - should i incorporate more flour int that layer?
I'm a nervous baker and need to know EVERYTHING before i start...
Thankyou!
Nina
Paris Pastry said…
Hi Nina! Yes, adding strawberry puree will make the strawberry layer make it a bit more moist. You could also use real strawberries, puree them and add it to the cake instead of strawberry jam. I think in my next try I will do that, but I couldn't get my hands on strawberries at the time. Let me know how it works out! x
nina subramani said…
I made it! and it was delicious - especially the strawberry flavor. The only problem was that the plain layer really rose well, while the chocolate was smaller and the strawberry was almost flat! i think it was because I have a small oven and the two layers had to sit it out waiting for their turn to be baked. i will definitely try this again - next time i will divide the ingredients by 3 and make each layer separately so that they can bake as soon as I prepare the batter.

Thankyou so much for this recipe. My daughter loved the cake and that's the most important thing.
Paris Pastry said…
Hi Nina! Good to hear it came out good! x

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