Neapolitan Birthday Cake

For my first birthday away from home (I recently finished my second year of college) I decided to take matters into my own hands where my birthday cake was concerned. If I didn't make it, who would? I spent a few weeks shuffling through my bookmarked recipes—of which I may have too many—and finally asked, "Why do I have to choose one flavor of cake? Why can't I have...three?" Enter Neapolitan, stage left.

My kitchen routinely looks like this, except with three (or four or five) times the mess, while I'm baking. I am not a neat baker: flour is dusted across the counters, possibly in puffy pockets on the floor, possibly under my nails, possibly in my hair...no big deal.

This cake on the other hand...definitely a big deal.

Check out that pink! Strawberry Jell-O and strawberry puree make this batter bright pink and out-of-this-world delicious. I likely could have eaten the batter straight without letting it anywhere near the oven. 

By the way, this cake has six layers. Two strawberry, two chocolate, two vanilla. Did I not mention that? Yeah... It looks like a beast of a cake, but it isn't. Well, it is. But it bakes up quicker than you think and is gorgeous when cut into. Totally worth the work.

Some advice? Clean as you go. Mix, bake, do some dishes, get that flour out of your hair, repeat. Then your kitchen's clean and you can relax with a big slice of "Welcome to your 20s."

Six-Layer Neapolitan Birthday Cake with Pink Frosting

For Strawberry Cake:

From Sweetapolita

2 cups granulated sugar

1 3oz package strawberry Jell-O

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs, room temperature

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup whole milk, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup strawberry puree (blend frozen strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8" pans with butter (or spray) and flour.

Whisk flour and baking powder together in medium bowl.

In large bowl cream butter, sugar and strawberry Jell-O powder until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well. Alternate additions of dry ingredients with additions of milk and vanilla, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Blend in strawberry puree.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 20 minutes before removing onto wire rack to continue cooling.

For Vanilla Cake:

Adapted from Sweetapolita

1/3 cup butter

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup ice water

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8" pans with butter (or spray) and flour.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In separate medium bowl whisk together dry ingredients.

In large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Alternate additions of dry ingredients with additions of ice water and vanilla, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Fold in egg whites with spoon or rubber spatula.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 15 minutes before removing onto wire rack to continue cooling.

For Chocolate Cake:

From Joy the Baker

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup oil

2 teaspoons white vinegar

2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8" pans with butter (or spray) and flour.

In medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In large bowl blend vanilla, oil, vinegar and water. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, mixing until just combined. Batter will be thin.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 25 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 20 minutes before removing onto wire rack to continue cooling.

For Frosting:

From Sweetapolita

1 1/4 cup butter, softened

8 cups powdered sugar

120 ml whipping cream

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon water

pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon rose icing color (I used Wilton)

In stand mixer blend butter and powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Add vanilla, water, whipping cream and salt until smooth. Add color until fully blended. If necessary, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to adjust consistency. Makes enough to frost a monstrous 6 layer 8" cake.

For Assembly:

Assemble on cake stand or other flat surface (eg. cookie sheet) covered in sheet of aluminum foil for easy clean up later. Stack layers in alternating flavors for best aesthetic appeal. Between layers, frost with frosting or spread extra strawberry puree. I figured the cake would be sweet enough without extra frosting, so I simply stacked cake upon cake. This is a personal preference which I think worked very well for myself. Wrap or cover cake well and refrigerate 1 hour.
When frosting, begin at bottoms of sides and work way up. When finished frosting, rinse and lightly dry frosting spatula and sweep over sides and top of cake. This will create a smooth and neat finish.

Tips + Tricks:

Bake layers of cake a day or days ahead. Simply bake, wrap well in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. Take out to defrost a couple hours before assembly.

If you don't have a cooling rack (I don't always have access to one), do NOT remove warm cake from pan onto a plate or other surface, as it will stick. Instead remove to a piece of plastic wrap which will not stick. This will also help when later assembling cake.

I wanted to leave the cake simple to allow the striking flavors and colors to be the focal point of the cake. However, feel free to further decorate cake with sprinkles, icing borders, candles, the works. It's your birthday: go wild. :)

Categories: cake, celebrate, chocolate, frosting, strawberry