Too Tall Neapolitan Cake

Too Tall Neapolitan Cake

Spouse celebrated her birthday yesterday and the day before that we had a snow blizzard here in eastern Newfoundland, so I had the day off work to make an extra special birthday cake for her. She had requested the invention of a Neapolitan cake for the occasion using those classic ice cream flavors of vanilla chocolate and strawberry. My answer was this 6 layer vanilla cake filled with alternating layers of strawberry compote and vanilla custard and then completely covered in her favorite chocolate Italian buttercream frosting. Although this was a much bigger baking project than I had planned the cake was a huge success and some friends and family will get the leftovers today.
This is quite a large cake and will easily provide up to 20 servings easily.

Vanilla Cake

Grease and flour three 9 inch cake pans.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Sift together and set aside:

2 &1/4 cups cake and pastry flour
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Cream together until fluffy:

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups sugar

Add, one at a time, beating well after every addition;

6 eggs at room temperature

Beat in

6 teaspoons vanilla extract

Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternately with

1 & 1/2 cups undiluted evaporated milk

When adding dry and wet ingredients alternately in any baking recipe, always begin and end with the dry ingredients.

Pour batter evenly into 3 well greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch it carefully, you will not want to over bake this cake, as soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When completely cool, split each layer horizontally to create 6 layers in total.

Strawberry Compote

4 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
¾ cup sugar

Combine in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Thicken with 2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in ¼ cup cold water, which is added to the strawberries while stirring gently. Boil gently for 1 additional minute, stirring constantly. Divide in 2 portions and cool completely.

Vanilla Custard

Scald in the microwave or on the stovetop:

3 cups whole milk

Microwave works best as there is no chance of burning the milk.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan combine

1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Over medium flame slowly add the scalded milk whisking constantly.Continue to cook over medium heat until mixture begins to slightly thicken. At this point remove from heat and pour about a half cup of this mixture onto

3 slightly beaten extra large egg yolks

whisking constantly. Pour the egg mixture immediately back into the pot, continuing to constantly stir. Cook for an additional minute or two until pudding consistency and remove from the flame.

Stir in

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp good quality vanilla extract

Cool completely in the fridge.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water

Combine and bring to a boil. Continue to boil over medium heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Meanwhile beat together to stiff peaks

6 egg whites at room temperature
¼ tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt

Slowly pour in the sugar syrup hitting the side of the bowl and not the beaters. Continue beating the frosting for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is completely cool. When completely cool, slowly begin to add, a few tablespoons at a time

2 cups softened unsalted butter

Beat until smooth after each addition.

Combine and melt in a double boiler:

1 pound chocolate, chopped in small pieces
½ cup butter

Add to the meringue mixture and beat well until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. This may take 15 minutes or so and you may have to chill the frosting for several minutes before beating it again to get it to stiffen. Alternatively, you can place the frosting bowl in an ice bath while continuing to beat constantly until the icing stiffens sufficiently.

To assemble the cake, use a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off to pipe a 1/2 inch wide line of frosting around the perimeter of the first layer of cake. This step is important for each layer beacause it will keep the fillings from spilling out as you assemble the cake. Fill the center of the ring with 1/3 of the vanilla custard and place another layer of cake on top. Again pipe another line of frosting around the perimeter of this layer and fill the center with strawberry compote. Continue alternating the layers until all six are used. Frost the entire outside of the cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I recommend making this cake the day before serving and chilling it overnight in the fridge, so that it will stand up well and cut cleanly.

Garnish with chocolate ganache covered strawberries if you like.

Chocolate Ganache

Scald to almost boiling:

1/4 cup whipping cream

Pour the scalded cream over

1 cup chocolate chips

Let stand for 5 minutes before stirring until smooth. Dip fresh, clean, dry strawberries into the ganache and let cool completely on a parchment lined baking sheet.