Neapolitan fairy cakes

As promised, here is the recipe for the Neapolitan cupcakes!  I wasn't that fond of the cupcake itself--I thought it was a bit too dense.  Most of my taste testers liked it, though, and it is something different, so who knows!  I definitely like this idea, but I might try a lighter cake mix next time. 

 



 

Neapolitan cupcakes

 

3/4 cup butter, softened

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 extra large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups cake flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

 

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2 (12 cup) muffin pans with paper liners (preferably a light color that you can see through).  I also always spray baking spray on a paper towel and grease the top of the pan just in case the cupcake rises too far (I'm not a good judge of how much to fill the cups).

 

2.  In a large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, and sugar.  Beat at high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla. 

 

3.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Gradually add flour to the butter mixture alternating with milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. 

 

4.  Divide batter in half and beat cocoa powder cocoa powder into one half.  Spoon chocolate batter into cups, filling 1/3 full.*  Spoon vanilla batter evenly over chocolate, filling about 2/3 full.

 

5.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

 

*For my cupcakes, the chocolate ended up being most of the cupcake even though it looked from the outside that they were even.  I would probably put less chocolate in than vanilla.

 

So, we have the chocolate and vanilla part of the Neapolitan, the only thing left, is the strawberry!  This frosting was delicious!  I would definitely use this frosting recipe again.

 

Strawberries and cream frosting

 

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup strawberry jam

2 tsp strawberry extract

1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 cup confectioner's sugar

 

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and butter.  Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add strawberry jam and strawberry extract, beating well until smooth.  Beat in whipped topping and confectioner's sugar.