Neapolitan Cake

5 from 1 vote

This impressive Neapolitan cake is a colorful chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla layer cake that looks just like the classic ice cream flavor.

Prep Time1

Cook Time30

Cool/Chill Time3 30

Total Time5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Neapolitan Cake Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 968kcal

Preheat the oven to 350°F (325°F for dark/non-stick pans). Line the bottom of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and spray the sides with non-stick cooking spray. Set them aside.
For each flavor of cake, in a mixing bowl combine cake mix, eggs, milk, oil, and sour cream. Beat with a hand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy and well combined.
Transfer 2½ cups of the batter into one of the prepared cake pans. Use the remaining batter for another purpose.
Repeat for all three flavors of cake.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out with just a few crumbs.
Remove pans and cool for 10 minutes. Gently remove cakes from pans to cooling racks and cool completely.
If time allows, wrap each layer in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer to firm up for 2 or more hours. This makes it easier to assemble and frost the cake.

Beat together softened cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
Beat in 4 cups of powdered sugar.
Beat in ¼ cup of heavy cream; then continue adding heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting is light and fluffy and has a spreadable consistency.
Add the vanilla extract.

Trim the top of each cake layer to form a flat, even surface.
Place the chocolate cake layer top-side up onto the serving platter.
Mound about ½ cup of frosting onto the cake layer and spread smooth to the edges.
Place the second vanilla cake layer top-side down on top of the frosting. Press down gently to seal the layers together.
Spread another layer of frosting over the vanilla cake layer and then top with the strawberry layer, top side down.
Spread a thin layer of frosting over the top and down the sides of the cake to seal in all of the crumbs and smooth the sides between the layers. Freeze for 15 to 30 minutes.
Mound most of the remaining frosting on top of the cake and use an offset spatula to spread it across the top and down the sides until the cake is fully frosted. If desired, transfer some frosting to a piping bag and pipe a border around the top and bottom perimeter of the cake.
Refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve.

Sour cream adds moisture to the box cake mix and really elevates the texture of the cakes.
Measuring 2½ cups of batter for each cake layer ensures that each of the three layers come out even. If you do not have three separate 8-inch pans, mix up one batter at a time, bake that layer, cool and remove it from the pan, mix up the next cake batter, and so on. Do not mix up the cake batters ahead of when you can bake them, as they will not rise as well.
You could use the extra batter to make cupcakes. The 2½ cups of batter for each layer is a little more than half of the batter for each cake flavor. I had enough batter left to make six cupcakes in each flavor.
I always freeze my cake layers so that they are less fragile and soft when I’m stacking and frosting them.
Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so that you don't end up with lumps in your frosting.