A fun and delicious Neapolitan cake recipe is a sheet cake with all Neapolitan flavors! Lovely layers of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla are bound to be a crowd-pleaser. Serve this cake with our Neapolitan milkshakes for the ultimate treat!
Also, check out our super fluffy chocolate sheet cake and our funfetti cake too!
We’re all familiar with the delicious chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla flavors of Neapolitan ice cream. That classic combo was a childhood favorite that I specifically remember indulging in during birthday celebrations.
We’ve taken those traditional flavors and made a Neapolitan sheet cake recipe by alternating three different cake batters in a sheet pan so they would bake together, creating a fun chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry Neapolitan sheet cake!
How to Make a Neapolitan Cake
Ingredient Notes
Vanilla Cake
Chocolate Cake
Strawberry Preserves
Neapolitan Buttercream
Granulated sugar
Eggs
Unsalted butter
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Vanilla extract
Strawberry Preserves
Directions
- Prepare a 9×13 sheet pan with butter and parchment paper and set aside.
- Make the vanilla cake first.
- Split the batter equally into two bowls.
- Add 1 cup of strawberry preserves into one of the batter bowls.
- Stir the preserves until it’s fully blended.
- Set both of the batters in the fridge and then make the chocolate cake.
- Once all three cake batters are made, pour a line of the vanilla batter in the prepared pan, then chocolate, then strawberry, and alternate until the pan are filled.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.
- Don’t worry if the layers are not perfectly even, then will cook together still creating a Neapolitan look.
- Let the cake cool before removing and frosting.
Neapolitan Meringue Buttercream
This cake is topped with a super creamy swiss meringue buttercream for this cake! This is really fun to make, it’s the same buttercream meringue base, divided into 3 bowls and each has its own special ingredient to make it strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla flavored.
It’s one of my favorite frosting recipes of all time! It’s one recipe that we turn into three flavors, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry!
Tips for Making a Neapolitan Cake
Use boxed cakes to make this cake. It’s too many flavors to make three different homemade cakes.
Make this recipe as a sheet cake or as a round stacked cake by baking the cake in two 8″ round cake pans.
Serve this cake with fresh strawberries and a scoop of ice cream for the ultimate treat!
Drizzle homemade caramel over the top of this cake instead of frosting.
Best Boxed Cakes
There are some really good boxed cakes out there that taste homemade! This cake requires a lot of baking and we highly recommend using boxed cakes as the base for this recipe. Here are some of our favorite boxed cakes:
Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Mix
Duncan Hines’ Classic White Cake Mix
Pillsbury White Premium Cake Mix
King Arthur Golden Yellow Cake Mix
King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix
When to Serve this Neapolitan Cake
The festive colors and fun flavors of this cake make it perfect for so many occasions! Here are a few celebrations to serve a Neapolitan cake:
Frequently Asked Questions
A Neapolitan cake is made of three different flavors, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.
Neapolitan is a traditional ice cream flavor that consists of strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. Since this cake is inspired by those flavors but is baked as a classic sheet cake, it’s called a Neapolitan cake.
It’s said that Neapolitan ice cream originated from Naples, Italy.
More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love
Brown Sugar Cake with Creme Fraiche
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NEAPOLITAN CAKE RECIPE
Ingredients
Neapolitan Cake
- 1 box vanilla cake
- 1 box chocolate cake
- 1 cup strawberry preserves
Neapolitan Meringue Buttercream
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup strawberry preserves
- 1 tsp vanilla exract
Instructions
Neapolitan Cake
- Prepare a 9×13 sheet pan with butter and parchment paper and set it aside.
- Make the vanilla cake first.
- Split the batter equally into two bowls.
- Add 1 cup of strawberry preserves into one of the batter bowls.
- Stir the preserves until it’s fully blended.
- Set the vanilla and strawberry batters in the fridge.
- Next, make the chocolate cake batter.
- Once all three cake batters are made, pour a line of the vanilla batter in the prepared pan, then chocolate, then strawberry, and alternate until the pan are filled. You'll have extra chocolate cake batter that doesn't have to be used.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.
- Don’t worry if the layers are not perfectly even, then will cook together still creating a Neapolitan look.
- Let the cake cool before removing and frosting.
Neapolitan Meringue Buttercream
- Make a batch of our meringue buttercream.
- Divide the frosting into three bowls.
- In one bowl, add 1/2 cup of the strawberry preserves and mix with a whisk until combined.
- In another bowl sift in cocoa powder and whisk until combined.
- In the last bowl, add the vanilla extract and stir.
- You will have a chocolate frosting, strawberry frosting, and vanilla frosting.
- Once the cake is cooled, alternate the frosting to create a Neapolitan look and flavor.
