If you love Neapolitan ice cream, you will love the beauty and simplicity of this Neapolitan Cake Recipe. A delightful combination of different flavors is created by the beautifully marbled strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla cake.
Topped with a simple glaze for a delicious classic take on Neapolitan flavors.
This is one of my delicious cake recipes, that you are sure to want to bookmark.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Nostalgic. Many of us have memories of childhood eating Neapolitan ice cream as a special treat. Now you can have that same special treat, but as a cake instead of ice cream.
Beautiful. Delight your guests with a pretty cake colorful cake layers that look as amazing as it tastes. It is the perfect cake birthday party or special occasion
Delicious. There is a good reason why we combine these three flavors into one dessert.
Equipment Needed
- 12 cup Bundt Pan
- Non-stick Spray
- Sifter
- Large bowl with Electric Hand mixer or Stand Mixer
- 3 Bowls
Ingredients for the Neapolitan Cake Recipe
You will need a few extra ingredients to create the special marbling effect! Dutch-process cocoa powder and strawberry jello are the secrets.
The Cake Batter
- Unsalted Butter. Best at room temperature.
- Granulated Sugar. White table sugar.
- Eggs. Large size Grade A eggs work best for cake. They give the cake lift.
- All-Purpose Flour.
- Baking Powder. For leavening.
- Salt.
- Vanilla Extract. Please use real, pure vanilla extract. Imitation vanilla is not good.
- Evaporated Milk. Don't confuse this with sweetened condensed milk. They are not the same.
Strawberry Marble
- Strawberry Jello Packet. For flavor.
- Pink Gel Food Coloring. The gel version prevents the cake from separating. Liquid food coloring would create a cake batter that is more fluid and therefore not equal and the colors would pull away from each other.
- Cake Batter. After you finish mixing the cake batter, you will set aside some of it to use for this purpose.
Chocolate Layer
- Dutch Process Cocoa Powder. A special kind of cocoa powder with an alkalizing agent added. Kind of like adding baking powder.
- Hot Water. Heat will helps everything blend smoothly in this case.
- Cake Batter. After you finish mixing the cake batter, you will set aside some of it to use for this purpose.
Ingredients for the Glaze
- Powdered Sugar. A very fine sugar powder used for making glaze and frosting. Also called confectioner's sugar.
- Milk or Heavy Cream. Either will work. Heavy cream might create a thicker glaze.
- Vanilla. Real vanilla extract.
How to Make Neapolitan Cake
First, you will mix the cake batter, then you will split it into three bowls and add flavoring and color to the strawberry and chocolate sections. Then each cake layer is poured into the pan to create a marbling effect and baked.
Finally, a simple glaze is added for an extra touch of sweetness. More complete instructions are included on the recipe card, which you can print.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and prepare your pan.
- Place eggs in a bowl of warm water to bring them up to room temp for 5-6 minutes.
- Using a stand or handheld mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer (about 4-5 minutes).
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each.
- Add the vanilla extract.
- Scrape down the bowl and make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Sift the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt into the wet ingredients.
- Mix until just combined.
- Split the batter into 3 bowls by removing 1.5 cups of batter and placing it into 2 bowls, leaving the third as is.
- In bowl one, mix strawberry jello and vinegar on low speed. It will fizz a little. Mix until it's a liquid. Pour into the bowl of batter and mix until fully combined add a drop or two of pink gel food coloring if desired.
- In bowl two, mix cocoa and hot water together first. It's important this is HOT water, so the chocolate will dissolve and melt, then add to the batter and mix fully.
- Remaining batter will be the vanilla layer.
- Grease and flour bundt pan.
- Add the vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate batters. Repeat the layering once more until all batter is in the pan.
- Shake the batter to create the swirl pattern.
- Bake the cake as directed.
- Make the glaze while cake is cooling. Pour glaze over the cooled cake, serve and enjoy.
Mix ingredients for cake in a large bowl.
Divide the batter into three bowls, and make the strawberry and chocolate batter.
Start with the vanilla batter, then follow with the strawberry and finally the chocolate.
Place into oven at 350 degrees f and bake as directed.
When cake has cooled, add icing
Tips for Best Results
- We use distilled white vinegar with the jello packet because it makes the powder a liquid and the vinegar will evaporate leaving only a strawberry flavor behind. Secondly, adding the packet directly to the batter leaves a grainy texture, and using water doesn't work because you add hot water to jello packets to activate it for jello.
- Using hot (boiling) water on the cocoa powder allows any clumps to melt and doesn't leave pockets of dry powder.
- If you prefer more of one flavor over another, just portion out more batter to create your ideal flavor profile. You can even change up the cake flavors.
- This cake also goes well with a vanilla buttercream frosting.
- Store in an airtight container, I love this cake container. Or wrap individual slices in plastic wrap if you want to freeze it.
- To cut use a serrated knife and start cuts from the center of the cake.
Recipe FAQs
What is a Neapolitan cake?
Neapolitan is the term for a combination of the flavors strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. This flavor combination can be used to make many different desserts. In the case of the Neapolitan cake recipe, three batters with the three flavors are baked in a single pan.
Yes, you can bake the cake layers ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator or freezer until you're ready to assemble the cake. Just make sure to wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to prevent them from drying out.
Grease the cake pans well with cooking spray or butter and flour to prevent sticking. You can also line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper to help prevent sticking.
You can use your favorite boxed cake mixes for vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry instead of this from scratch recipe.
You can substitute all-purpose flour with your favorite gluten-free one-for-one all-purpose flour with excellent results.
More Great Cake Recipes
Neapolitan Cake
Equipment
- 12 cup bundt pan
- Non stick spray
- Sifter
- Electric hand or stand mixer
- 3 medium bowl
Ingredients
Vanilla Layer
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs brought to room temp
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup evaporated milk
Strawberry Layer
- 8 oz strawberry jello packet
- 2 drops pink gel food coloring
- ⅓ of the cake batter
Chocolate Layer
- 1 ½ teaspoon dutch cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- ⅓ of the cake batter
- Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon milk or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Place eggs in a bowl of warm water to bring them up to room temperature for 5-6 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy with a hand or stand mixer (about 4-5 mins)
- Add the eggs one at a time, and blend on medium speed after adding each.
- Add the vanilla extract
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Sift the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt into the wet ingredients.
- Mix until just combined.
- Divide batter evenly into 3 bowls by removing 1.5 cups of batter placing into 2 bowls (leaving the third as is)
- Bowl 1 (Strawberry batter): Mic strawberry jello and vinegar (it will fizz a little) mix until its a liquid. Pour into the bowl of batter and mix until fully combined add a drop or two of pink (gel) food color (optional)
- Bowl 2 (Chocolate batter): Mix cocoa and hot water together first. It's important this is HOT water, so the chocolate will dissolve and melt, then add to the batter and mix fully.
- Bowl 3 will be the vanilla cake layer and will remain untouched.
- Grease/flour bundt pan.
- Add the vanilla, strawberry and chocolate batters. Repeat the layering once more until all batter is in the pan.
- Shake the batter to create the swirl pattern
- Bake for 75-80mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 18-20 mins before flipping out of the pan onto a wire rack.
- For the glaze, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, whisk or mix until incorporated.
- Pour glaze over the top of the cake, serve and enjoy
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