Tasty Tuesday: 5-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Every year I ask Leighton, "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?" And every year he responds, "I don't care." This year he did follow it up with, "I don't think I want a Boston cream though."

It was a start. I knew what he didn't want, but that didn't narrow it down much. "Do you want another tres leches?" was met with "I don't know," (I don't know usually means no.) to which I responded, "Well, you're no help."

Profitable conversation, huh?

I browsed the recipes on a few of my favorite sites and narrowed the choices down to two. The one is an all white cake with white chocolate - a big plus in my hubby's eyes. I knew immediately that he would love it. The other was a cake I fell in love with the moment I first saw it nearly a year ago. While it does have a couple layers of chocolate cake, I thought I might be able to win him over with the Neapolitan aspect and the abundance of strawberry flavors.

As you can see, the lure of the prettier and more complicated cake was too strong. I did promise to make him the all-white cake some day though. I get bonus points for that, right??

This cake takes a bit of time to make. You make 3 different cakes - chocolate, strawberry, vanilla - along with a strawberry buttercream frosting. In between the layers, you can add either a bit of vanilla buttercream frosting or a good-quality strawberry jam. We used our homemade jam (using our  triple berry jam recipe, replacing the blueberries with extra strawberries.) Whether you choose the frosting or the jam to hold it all together, make sure you use just a tiny bit, a super thin layer. Mine soaked into the cake and bled through some. While it made for a very tasty addition, the layers were not quite as defined as I would have liked.     

But really, who cares about a little seeping when the cake tastes amazing??? All the components separately are delicious (oh, how I love that strawberry buttercream and can't wait to try it on other cakes!), but combine them and the flavors all work together to make a very Neapolitan-esque creation. It's kinda crazy how just how Neapolitany it is. Crazy and delicious. 

And crazy and delicious is good.

 

Really good.

And was I right? Did the cake win Leighton over??

Ohhh yeah.


5-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
¾ cup plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
6 Tbs dark cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg.  Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.  Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth.  Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely.


White Cake
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1¾ cup flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
8 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup very cold water
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy.  Increase speed to medium high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.  Transfer the egg whites to another bowl and set aside. 
4. In the bowl of the electric mixer now fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Blend in the water, vanilla and almond extracts.  Beat in the remaining dry ingredients just until incorporated.  With a silicone spatula, stir in about a quarter of the egg whites to lighten the batter.  Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, until the batter is smooth and no streaks remain.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely. 

 

 

Strawberry Cake 

Ingredients:
1¼ cups plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1½ oz strawberry gelatin
8 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup sweetened strawberry puree (process partially thawed frozen strawberries, if unsweetened add 2 tsp sugar)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour.  
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. Combine the sugar, strawberry gelatin and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat the eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated.  Blend in the milk and vanilla extract.  Add in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.  Blend in the strawberry puree.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely.
 

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 Tbs vanilla extract
1 Tbs water
pinch of salt
1 tsp strawberry extract
yellow food coloring, optional

Directions:
Beat the butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer on low with the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, water, whipping cream, salt, strawberry extract, and food coloring (as needed to match the color of the white cake) and whip on high speed until fluffy and smooth–about 4 minutes. If consistency is too thick, add water 1 teaspoon at a time, and whip again for 30 seconds or so.
 

Filling
Vanilla buttercream or good quality strawberry jam


Assemble the Cake:
Torte each of the cake layers horizontally into two thin halves. If you do not have a cake slicer, use a large serrated knife. Hold the knife in the middle of the cake and spin the cake slowly as you cut into the side. Continue spinning and sawing until you cut all the way through. Use a cake board (I cut a circle out of a cereal box) to slide under the top layer and lift it off.

Place one of the chocolate layers on a cake board or cake platter.  Top with a very thin layer of the vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Place a layer of the strawberry cake on top.  Again, cover with a thin layer of vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Top with a layer of the white cake.  Cover with a thin layer of the vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Repeat the process with the remaining layers of chocolate and strawberry cake.  (For a taller cake, you can use the remaining layer of white cake.  Otherwise, you can wrap tightly and save.)  Frost as desired with the strawberry buttercream frosting.
Recipe adapted from Sweetapolita.

Tasty Tuesday: Triple Berry Jam

My mom and I took the 4 kids strawberry picking the beginning of June. (One day I'll go through all those pictures and write up a post. One day, hopefully before my kids are teenagers.) We ate quite a few fresh strawberries, froze a bunch, and then made jam with the rest.

We made cherry-strawberry jam last year for my first attempt at jam making and canning. I have since canned a few other things, but hadn't made anymore jam. Last time, I was a little nervous that something would go wrong, but this time since I'd done it before, I was confident. Right?

Nope. There was still that little bit of anxiousness that my jam wouldn't be thick enough or that the jars wouldn't seal properly. I know, such confidence. 

But enough about that, let's make some triple berry jam!

Enlist the help of a big, strong helper. The cuter, the better.

 Mix berries and pectin (with portion of sugar) in a large pot.

Once the mixture has come to a boil, add the remaining sugar and stir; bring back to a boil.

Skim off the excess foam and pour the hot jam into prepared jars.

But beware . . .

If you try to fill the jars and take pictures at the same time, you might end up with jam on your counter. 

And then you'd have to scoop it up with your finger and taste the jam. But if you're like me, this wouldn't be the first taste of the delicious concoction anyway.

 Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Remove them, leave them on the counter until cool, and listen to the melodious pop-pop-pop of the cans sealing.

And that's that! I don't know why it's intimidating to me. It's not even difficult. We made a batch right after picking the strawberries and we're down to our last jar. This jam is absolutely delicious! Possibly the best jam I've ever eaten. We just made a second batch again because it's that good. This time, I used 12 oz raspberries, 16 oz blueberries, and just mashed enough of our frozen strawberries to equal a total of 6 cups of berries. So good. You just can't go wrong here. I have a feeling we'll be making a lot more homemade jams.

Triple Berry Jam

Ingredients:

4 cups crushed strawberries (about 8 cups whole)

1 cup crushed raspberries

1 cup crushed blueberries

4 cups sugar, divided

1 (1.75 oz) package no-sugar-needed fruit pectin

Directions:

1. In a large pot, combine the strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Whisk 1/4 cup sugar with the pectin (to avoid clumping) and add it to the pot. Bring to a boil (that can't be stirred away) on medium-high heat, stirring often. 

2. Add the remaining sugar to the mixture; return to a full rolling boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

3. Remove from heat; skim off foam. Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Remove from bath and leave on counter, without touching, until cool.

Recipe adapted from pickyourown.

Tasty Tuesday: Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups

When my mom asked what I wanted for Christmas, it didn't take me long to suggest a food dehydrator. Our family already eats quite a bit of fruits and veggies, but any way in which I can add more to our diet is always a plus. Besides, this gives me another option for storing our bounty from our garden other than freezing and canning. 

I've been wanting to make fruit roll-ups (fruit leather) for quite sometime. My kids love the store-bought ones, but we don't get them but a few times a year. Homemade ones are much cheaper and much healthier. Who knows how many ingredients are in the processed ones with the cute little pictures on the box. I can tell you how many are in these homemade ones though: one -- fruit! Can't get much better than that. (Though if your fruit needs a little sweetening, you can add honey, agave syrup, or light corn syrup.)

I know winter is not exactly the time to stock up on produce to dehydrate, but I got strawberries for a pretty good deal the other day.  After making and enjoying apple leather last week, we set out to make the strawberry.

 Wash and hull your strawberries.

 Place them in a blender.

 Puree until smooth.

 Pour the strawberry puree onto an oiled fruit roll dehydrator sheet.

 Dehydrate at 135°F until leathery and pliable. (This was a few hours before finished.)

Peel off the dried fruit while it's still warm. Cut, slice, or roll the leather any way you wish. One reason I've been wanting to make this is to use it as cute embellishments for the kiddos lunches. Food just tastes better when it's fun!

The strawberry by itself is very tart. All of us puckered our lips and made silly faces the first time we tried it. After you get over the initial shock though, it's pretty addicting. Next time, I'll try adding another flavor to override the sweetness a little. Also, since I've only made it twice, I'm still trying to find the perfect texture and consistency. This time, I was dehydrating sliced strawberries and bananas at the same time. It definitely lengthened the drying process. I'm thankful I have many months to work out the kinks and become more confident before the big push this summer.

If you have any tips, tricks, or favorite dehydrated suggestions, please share them in the comments below!

* You can also make the leather in the oven. Prepare as stated above. Pour into lined cookie sheet, and bake at lowest oven setting until done, 6-8 hours.

Tasty Tuesday: Cherry-Strawberry Jam

This was my first time making jam. Can you believe it? It was even my first time canning. *Gasp* Crazy, I know. They're both things I've always wanted to do, but just never got around to doing.  Until now.

We still had about 3 cups of cherries left after making the cobbler. I had planned to make a pie, but decided on this recipe instead.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups finely chopped or ground sour cherries

2 cups red strawberries

5 cups sugar

1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin

Directions:

1. In a large kettle, combine cherries and strawberries; stir in pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. 

2. Add sugar; return to a full rolling boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

3. Remove from the heat; skim off foam. Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

I don't own a cherry pitter. I meant to borrow my mom's since it makes the whole pitting cherries thing much, much easier. Not to worry though, I had a plastic drinking straw. You simply put the cherry on top and pull it down onto the straw, leaving the pit at the top. Ideally, you need three hands: one to hold the cherry, one to hold the straw, and one to hold the camera. Alas, I have only two. Such is life.  I had to settle for pitting it, wiping off my hand, and snapping a picture. If you're not photographing, don't feel bad about not having a third hand.

The cherry pitter is a much faster process than using the straw. You also get a much neater hole, instead of a mangled cherry. (The appearance doesn't matter when making jam since the cherries are chopped.)

One more tip - don't pit the cherries near a drainer full of clean, drying dishes. I splattered cherry juice everywhere . . . and I was being careful! A pitter is a much cleaner process. 

I absolutely love my food processor. It is a magical tool. You dump in cupfuls of fruit, pulse for seconds, and get perfectly chopped  mush.

But beware! It may be "too loud" for some. 

Isn't that beautiful? Alyssa and I were ready right then and there to grab a straw and slurp away. Mmm, it smelled sooo good already. All we needed was a little vanilla ice cream, and we could have whipped up some shakes in no time!

But no, back to the jam . . .

After combining those shades of red, she added the thickening agent, the pectin.

She stirred it up some more, let it boil, and added the sugar. Personally, I suggest trying to get all the sugar in the pot. You can, however, do what you choose. It's just a preference of mine to contain the sugar with the other ingredients. I know, I'm silly like that.

Here's where it really gets fun! As the mixture comes to a boil, the pectin starts to do its job. The liquid thickens and bubbles. It gets frothy and fills the pot. It was like having our own volcano oozing hot, red lava right there in the kitchen. Thankfully, the volcano didn't erupt!

We canned a few jars. (Jarred a few cans?) Having never canned before, I was almost skeptical that it wasn't going to work or that I would do something wrong. It was pretty exciting when I saw that they did indeed seal! Yea!

The jam was incredibly yummy! It reminds me of strawberry-rhubarb pie (my favorite!) It goes perfectly with freshly baked homemade bread. Delicious! I would definitely make this again . . . after I buy a cherry pitter.