Gluten-Free Neapolitan Cake

Springtime means birthday season in our house, and what better way to kick it off than with a cake recipe! I will just say that the cake is good, but the frosting is absolutely glorious. 😉 The little bit of extra zing from the lemon juice makes all the difference. Hope you enjoy!

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Gluten-Free Neapolitan Cake

Yield: 10-12

Author: Mekenzie A.

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

Cakes

• 2 1/2 cups of gluten-free flour mix, plus extra (I use Bob's Red Mill GF 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 salt
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
• 1 3/4 sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup milk, plus extra
• 1/2 cup of diced strawberries
• 1 Tbs strawberry jam
• 2 Tbs cocoa powder

Berry Frosting

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbs strawberry jam
• A squeeze of lemon juice

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375F. Prepare three 9-inch round baking pans with non-stick spray, lining the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, beat room-temp butter for 1 minute before adding sugar and vanilla extract. Then beat on medium for 5-6 minutes, until the mixture looks extremely light and fluffy.
4. Beat in one egg at a time. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately to the butter mixture, mixing in until just combined.
5. Strawberry layer: Coat strawberries with 1 Tbs of GF flour in a medium bowl, then add in one-third of your batter and 1 Tbs strawberry jam, folding in the strawberries until mixed throughout. Pour into one of your three prepared pans and smooth.
6. Chocolate layer: Mix 2 Tbs cocoa powder and 1 Tbs milk into another third of the cake batter, pouring into second cake pan and smoothing.
7. In the final cake pan, pour in the rest of your cake batter, smooth.
8. Place all three layers in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then flip out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Be especially careful with the strawberry layer, place it on its own cooling rack if possible.
10. Frosting: While your cakes cool, whip butter in a stand mixer, adding 2 cups of powdered sugar a little at a time until it comes together. Add vanilla. Then, alternate between adding jam and the rest of the powdered sugar. Add a bit a lemon juice if you'd like your frosting to have some extra tartness.
11. Once cakes are cooled, stack in the order you'd like, frosting between each layer, then frosting over the entire cake.
12. Enjoy!