Neapolitan Cake is always going to be Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla
Originally when I created this cake I made my life really difficult
Because I prepared three separate recipes for the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cake layers!
However I’ve wised up in my old age and have tweaked one simple recipe top make all the flavors!
Introducing Neapolitan Cake 2025!
This cake will be ready in no time with a simple vanilla buttercream that mixes up while the cake is baking!
Added to the cake batter and the icing for the most intense strawberry ever!
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR HOW TO MAKE THE NEAPOLITAN CAKE!
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Notes for Success:
Soy milk is the only milk that will sour and thicken upon adding vinegar for our mock “buttermilk”
Of course you can use any plant milk of your choice if you are staying away from soy
Just be sure to add the vinegar as that is also the activator for the baking soda to leaven this recipe
A combination of oil and melted vegan butter is my preference but you can use all of one or the other if you prefer
Since the development of this recipe back in 2017 I have recently been leaving out the shortening altogether
Simply by replacing it with more vegan butter!
Shortening does nothing more than stabilize the buttercream for cakes that are to be displayed in hot climates or transporting long distances
And since I do not do this anymore, I find the all vegan butter version to be just great!
This method for making all three cake flavors from one recipe will also work with my
BOX CAKE HACK! Using a yellow or white cake box!
7″ Cake Pans are always my preference but if you only have 8″ pans you can still make this recipe but your layers will be much thinner
With a much shorter bake time as well!
- For the Cake
- Plant Milk 1½ cups (355ml) *see notes
- Vinegar 1½ Tablespoons
- Vegan Butter ½ cup (113g) *see notes
- Vegetable oil of your choice ½ cup (117ml)
- Granulated Sugar 1½ cup (300g)
- Salt ½ teaspoon
- Vanilla Extract 3 teaspoons (15ml)
- All Purpose Flour 3 cups (375g)
- Baking Soda 2 teaspoons (8g)
- For the Strawberry Batter
- 2 Tablespoons Freeze Dried Strawberry Fruit Powder
- For the Chocolate Batter
- 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 2 teaspoons oil
- For the Buttercream
- Vegan Butter 1½ Cups (3 sticks) (336g)
- Hi Ratio Vegetable Shortening 1½ Cups (336g) *see notes
- Confectioners Sugar 6 cups (720g)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Butter Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml) *see notes
- Salt ¼ teaspoon *optional
- For the Strawberry Buttercream
- 6 tablespoons Freeze dried strawberry powder
- Prepare your 7" cake pans with pan grease & parchment liners & preheat the oven to 350°F
- Make the cake batter by combining the vegetable oil with the melted vegan butter then add the vanilla extract and set aside
- Combine the plant milk with the vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Sift all the dry ingredients(including the sugar) together in a large mixing bowl
- Pour the wet ingredients in and whisk smooth, this will be the plant milk mixture and the butter/oil mixture
- Now divide the batter evenly into 3 separate bowls
- Add the strawberry powder to one bowl for the strawberry layer & then mix the cocoa powder with the hot water & oil and add that to the other batter to make the chocolate layer
- Pour all 3 batters into the prepared pans
- Bake immediately in the preheated 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes OR when you gently press the centers they should be springy to the touch. Or do the toothpick test for moist crumbs.
- Cool in the pans until you can safely touch them without burning yourself then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
- Now prepare the buttercream recipe ~ Whip the vegan butter and optional shortening with an electric mixer on high speed for 3 minutes.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure it is evenly mixed and add the salt and flavors and whip for another minute
- Stop mixer and add the sifted confectioners sugar all at once.
- Mix on low speed until incorporated & then scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl again and then mix on high speed for another 3 minutes.
- Divide the buttercream in half and add the 6 Tablespoons of freeze dried strawberry powder to one half for the filling & decoration of the cake
For longer storage keep in the refrigerator covered to prevent drying out for up to 1 week
Hi Gretchen – I’m deliberating on buying some 7 inch pans. Can you give your opinion on 7 vs 8 inch cakes? Is it totally about the appearance and decorating trends/preferences or do they bake up differently leading to better cakes, or maybe something else? If it’s appearance – can you share your thoughts on what makes lovely cakes? Especially when they would be a present to someone. thanks much
Miss gretchen how do i do a buttercream thats not too sweet. I’ve tried the regular buttercream but is too sweet
CLICK HERE for all the options, you may prefer to use a Swiss Meringue or Italian as those are not as sweet as traditional American style (AND you can adjust the powdered sugar on all recipes!)
Additionally, I have an ERMINE BUTTERCREAM RECIPE that is amazing!!!! CLICK HERE
Gretchen this looks amazing! Im not sure if I missed it, but what are the strawberries dipped in? Whenever I use fresh strawberries the juice ends up all over the buttercream. Thank you!
Thank you! I did overlook that point! Adding now! **it is melted apricot jam (any clear jam works though- orange, peach etc.. or strawberry of course LOL
This looks like so much fun!! Love your recipes over quarantine. 🙂
I loved this recipe. I made it for my husband’s birthday. The only draw back is that it says to do half of the strawberry cake recipe however the original recipe only makes a 9×9 cake so half of that was definitely not enough to be the same as the other 2 cakes. I should have put the whole recipe in one 8in round pan so it matched the size of the other cakes. Additionally I wished it would say how much buttercream I needed to separate out to add rhe strawberry compote to especially since it said I would only need the 2 tbsp. Of compote.
Thank you for pointing this out! I will update the recipe instructions to be more clear!
This looks like the perfect cake for my friends 61st Birthday celebration, this weekend. I don’t recall seeing, either in the recipe or during the video, how much of the strawberry buttercream you are making with the strawberry compote. Is it half of the recipe, or maybe two thirds? I want to be sure that I have enough of both flavors to finish this cake, inside and out, just the way that you did! I am up for the challenge.
Hey sorry for the confusion! I see how that is unclear, since I only used the strawberry BC for 1 layer inside the cake, I took about 1-1½ cups of the BC and added strawberry to that. I had enough leftover to make some rosettes on top too
I ended up using about half of the BC for the strawberry parts. I also did a Ganache drip on the edge since I had a fair amount of that left over after topping the strawberry layer. It looks wonderful! Thanks for the inspiration.