Neapolitan Cake

This Neapolitan cake combines the delicious flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry! Vanilla and chocolate cake are layered with vanilla buttercream and fresh strawberry slices! This cake is vegan friendly and includes a gluten-free option as well!

In our family, birthdays are a big deal. We each take the day off from work and school and celebrate the birthday person all. day. long. Whatever they want…within reason, of course. Sometimes it’s a certain restaurant or movie, but most of the time, both kids, my husband, and I really just want to spend the day together, whatever the plan.

My son’s birthday was this past week and he just wanted to have a movie day with us, along and his favorite food. His menu “musts” consisted of crepes for breakfast and Korean for dinner. Oh, and he definitely wanted to go to his favorite Boba Tea place for an afternoon treat!

For his cake he asked for this Neapolitan cake, same as last year. Great choice, Caleb!

It all started on his birthday last year, when he said he wanted a vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry cake. I thought, what a genius idea! I looked up “Neapolitan cake” and apparently others think so too, since it’s definitely a thing! Most of the cakes out there had a vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry cake layer. Although it seemed like a good thing to do, it also seemed like a lot of work to make three separate flavored cakes, especially the strawberry layer, when I could just use fresh strawberries in the cake.

Not only did it work out great, I even used the same mixing bowl for both cakes. Since I made the vanilla layer first, I just made the chocolate cake after without worrying with washing in between. Both cakes use most of the same ingredients, so just leave them out for the second go round.

Trust me when I say this Neapolitan Cake is a delicious option since you get the best of all three flavors! It’s also a great choice for the indecisive person…ahem, like me!

Egg-Free:

This cake is naturally egg-free, but you can’t taste a difference. It actually makes the cakes incredibly tender, which is good, but it also makes them a little more delicate. I find the easiest way to put a layered cake together is to bake them a day or two beforehand, wrap them well and freeze them. The day you want to put the cake together, the cakes hold up well when frosting, plus it locks in the cakes moisture under the frosting.

Dairy-Free:

You can also make this dairy-free, by using dairy-free butter and plant-based milk. For the butter, I like Miyoko’s European Vegan Butter because it acts like real butter and tastes the best, but you can use your favorite vegan butter or even vegetable shortening.

Gluten-Free:

I included gluten-free options for both cakes. The yellow cake has a blend of gluten-free flours to give it the best texture and flavor, but the chocolate does fine with a simple gluten-free measure for measure flour. I like and use King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour.

This cake is the perfect dessert to make for just about any occasion! And since it has a combo of flavors, it caters to just about any palate too! Hope you enjoy it, and don’t forget to leave a review if you do!

If you like this, be sure to check out these similar recipes:

This Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream has tender white cake layered with a delicious strawberry buttercream and fresh strawberry slices!

If you don’t have a lot of time, try this Simple Strawberry Snack Cake! It’s made in one pan and has strawberries baked on top so it doesn’t need frosting!

For my fellow chocolate lovers, this Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake combines the classic combo of chocolate and berries! It’s also filled with a yummy homemade raspberry jam!

Neapolitan Cake

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

• Author: Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 10–12 slices 1x

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Description

This Neapolitan cake combines the delicious flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry! Vanilla and chocolate cake is layered with vanilla buttercream and fresh strawberry slices! This cake is vegan friendly and includes a gluten free option as well!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Vanilla layer:

1 1/4 cups (160g) unbleached all-purpose flour (*For gluten-free: 1 cup gf flour blend, 1/3 cup superfine almond flour, 1/4 coconut flour)

3/4 cup (148g) pure cane sugar or golden coconut sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk of choice or water

1/3 cup olive oil, vegetable oil, or other oil of choice

1 teaspoon apple cider or white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Layers:

2 cups (256g) unbleached all-purpose or gluten-free all purpose flour blend

1 3/4 cups (346g) pure cane sugar or coconut sugar

⅔ cup (65g) dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup almond milk or milk of choice

1 cup brewed coffee/espresso or additional milk/water

½ cup avocado oil or neutral cooking oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks, 345g) softened unsalted butter, dairy-free butter, or vegetable shortening

4 1/2–5 1/2 cups powdered sugar (to taste)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3–5 tablespoons milk of choice or water

strawberries, hulled and sliced

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease three 8″ pans. Line with a circle of parchment paper, cut to fit the pan, and then grease the parchment paper circle. I don’t recommend skipping this step or your cakes could stick to the bottom of the pan. Set pans aside.

Vanilla Cake Layer:

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour(s), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract, mixing just until smooth.

Pour batter into one of the prepared pans and place in the oven on middle rack.

Bake for 22–28 minutes, or just until center is set and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out mostly clean. Let cake cool in pans before frosting.

Cakes can even be made a few days beforehand, wrapped well after thoroughly cooled, and frozen until needed. It actually makes them easier to frost if they’re frozen.

Chocolate Cake Layers:

In the same mixing bowl as the vanilla cake (no need to wash) combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in milk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, beating just until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into remaining two prepared pans and place onto middle rack of oven. Bake for 22–28 minutes, or just until center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. Bake time varies depending on your pans and your oven.

Let cakes cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream:

In a large bowl, beat softened butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, alternating with vanilla and 2–3 tablespoons of milk, blending until well combined. Beat in additional milk if buttercream is too stiff.

Putting the Cake Together:

Let cakes cool for several minutes in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack to cool thoroughly. Cakes are the easiest to frost when they are wrapped in plastic wrap (wrapped well to avoid frost bite) and frozen on a flat surface in your freezer overnight.

To decorate, place a chocolate cake layer upside down on a decorative stand or plate. To keep the plate clean, you can tuck strips of parchment paper under the cake to catch the frosting.

Use an offset spatula to spread a big dollop buttercream evenly across cake layer. Top with berry slices, then the vanilla layer of cake. Repeat steps with remaining chocolate layer.

Cover the tops and sides of the cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Thin meaning you should still be able to see the cake. This is called a crumb coat, which seals in the crumbs and keeps the cake moist. Pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the frosting can firm up.

Once the frosting has firmed up, use a clean spatula to spread the rest of the buttercream oven the top and sides of the cake. Remove parchment paper and serve. If cakes were previously frozen, let it sit at room temperature for 2–3 hours before serving.

Cover leftover cake well and store in the refrigerator. Because of the fresh berries, the cake is best if enjoyed within 2–3 days.

• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins