Neapolitan Layer Cake

This Feb 14th Latif and I completed three blissful years of marriage and to celebrate the day I wanted to try a new cake recipe and also try my hand at decorating. I had seen two beautiful cakes on I Am Baker and Annie's Eats and this is what I came up with. Not bad for a first try huh? Actually the frosting work on the sides was awful but it tasted great and that's all that matters right? That's what I keep saying to myself!

The various recipes are very easy to prepare and can be done one by one without too much hassle. It basically consists of three cakes of different flavours (vanilla, Chocolate and strawberry) which are torted and assembled to make one big 6 layer cake. The layers are kept together with jam and frosted with buttercream. Since I am not a big fan of the stuff I frosted mine with whipped cream. I tried my hand at making stabilized whipped cream and loved the strawberry whipped cream a lot. It was so good that I could have eaten it by the spoonful. The only thing I would change next time would be to add a little bit of whipped cream mixed with the strawberry jam between each layer to keep them moist as I thought my layers were a little hard (this was also because this cake had to be kept in the fridge at all times due to the whipped cream frosting.)
 

The strawberry cake tasted really good and is a big keeper. The chocolate cake recipe is from Ina Garten and is also one of my favourite recipes.

Recipe Source - Annie's Eats and Sweetapolita

Ingredients

For The Chocolate Cake
3/4 Cup plus 2 tbsp. All-purpose flour

6 Tbsp Dark Cocoa Powder

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Vegetable Or Canola Oil

1 Large Egg

1/2 Cup Black Coffee

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

For The White Cake

2 Large Egg Whites

1 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Sugar

8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)

3/4 Cup Very Cold Water

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp Almond Extract

For The Strawberry Cake

1 1/4 Cups Plus 2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Cup Sugar

1 1/2 oz. (42.4 Gms) Strawberry Gelatin (Strawberry Jelly/Jell-O)

8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature

2 Large Eggs

1/2 Cup Milk

11/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 Cup Sweetened Strawberry Puree*

For The Filling

Whipped Cream mixed with Strawberry Jam or plain strawberry jam.

For The Whipped Cream and Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting

2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream (Divided)
1 Tbsp Powdered Sugar

1 Tsp Unflavored Gelatin

1 Tbsp Strawberry Gelatin

2 Tbsp Cold Water

*To make the strawberry puree, process partially thawed frozen strawberries with a bit of sugar in a blender or food processor until smooth. If using sweetened frozen strawberries, no additional sugar is necessary.

Make The Chocolate Cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F) Butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. Line the bottom with a round of parchment.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

4.With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.

5. Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Make The White Cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F) Butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. Line the bottom with a round of parchment.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer the egg whites to another bowl and set aside.

4. In the bowl of the electric mixer now fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.

5. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the water, vanilla and almond extracts. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients just until incorporated.

6. With a silicone spatula, stir in about a quarter of the egg whites to lighten the batter. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, until the batter is smooth and no streaks remain.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Make The Strawberry Cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F) Butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. Line the bottom with a round of parchment.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.

3. Combine the sugar, strawberry gelatin and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

4. Beat the eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated. Blend in the milk and vanilla extract. Add in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Blend in the strawberry puree.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Assemble The Cake

Torte each of the cake layers horizontally into two thin halves. Place one of the chocolate layers on a cake board or cake platter. Top with a very thin layer of the whipped cream or strawberry jam. Place a layer of the strawberry cake on top. Again, cover with a thin layer of cream or strawberry jam. Top with a layer of the white cake. Cover with a thin layer of the cream or strawberry jam. Repeat the process with the remaining layers of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla cake. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream (see below). Decorate with the strawberry whipped cream (see below).

Make The Whipped Cream and Strawberry Whipped Cream

Whipped Cream - Thoroughly chill the bowl of your electric mixer, the beaters and the cream. Place one cup of the heavy cream in the bowl of your stand mixer (or any steel bowl - make sure it is chilled). Whip the cream till it is thickened. Add the powdered sugar and whip till soft peaks form. Crumb coat the sides and top of cake. Place in fridge for 15 minutes. Remove and frost completely with remaining whipped cream.

Strawberry Whipped Cream - Pour the cold water in a small saucepan and sprinkle both the gelatins  over it. Keep for five minutes till the gelatin softens. Heat the pan over low heat till the gelatin is melted (do not bring to boil.) Keep aside to cool.

Whip the remaining 1 cup cream till soft peaks form. Add the cooled gelatin (make sure its not set) and whip till stiff peaks are formed. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with a 1 M tip. Pipe roses all over the top and sides. (See I Am Baker for the tutorial)

Happy Eating!!