Neapolitan Birthday Cake

Birthday cake.  It’s the one food that can make this mama weak in the knees.  To put it in Star Wars terms (which is how we discuss most things in our house these days); It’s force is strong with me.  The sugar crumb laden delight has the power to make me sneak a second piece when no one’s looking.  It can even go so far as to inspire me to eat healthier than I might normally partake simply so I can feel worthy of my meal ending slice.

With all that in mind, I’m sure you can understand why I look forward to dread the month of February because there are so many doggone birthdays stacked on top of each other that it’s like Christmas in our house all over again.  The amount of cake that passes through this abode in the small span of a couple weeks is seriously outrageous.

The first birthday to arrive on our doorstep is Alex’s.  As you may remember from last year, Alex is all about pink and rainbows.  I wasn’t about to repeat the epic baking adventure that was the rainbow cake last year, so I took it down a notch and created “the rainbow cake” instead.  A much tamer but no less tasty or beautiful creation that received rave reviews from all manner of small tikes involved.

The first cake of the month – Pay no mind to my chicken scratch handwriting

From the outside it looks rather unassuming, but slice it open and you’ll find a totally different story.  Neapolitan marble – Seriously fun to look at and even more fun to eat.

Which brings me to my final deep thought.  Wouldn’t it be great if birthday cake was as healthy as spinach?  That way you could eat an entire rainbow without even thinking twice. I know, I know, a girl can always dream.  *Sigh*

But enough wishful thinking, let’s bake it up.  As you can probably guess from the pictures, I made this recipe twice; once as cupcakes and then again as a cake.  Hey, any excuse to whip up a batch right?  It’s actually easier than you might think.  We just swirl up a simple yellow cake batter and then chocolatize one portion followed promptly by the pinkalicious-atizing of another.

Begin by making a basic batter.  Cream together some sugar and butter.  Follow that step with the addition of vanilla and eggs.  I then add in a little sour cream to the mix simply because I can.

 

Incorporate the sour cream and then put together a separate bowl of dry goods.  You know, things like flour, baking powder, and salt to name a few.

Add that mixture, a bit at a time, to your wet ingredients and spin until incorporated.

Now here’s where it gets fun.  Split the batter into three equal amounts.  One we’ll leave alone.  White section… check.  Grab up the second bucket o’ batter and stir in a drop or two of red food coloring.  Pink section… check.

Finally we’ll work on the chocolate portion.  For this last part you’ll need some cocoa and hot coffee.  I use decaf because seriously you guys, my kids have plenty of energy already.   Mix the cocoa into the coffee until it’s completely dissolved.

Now add the liquid choco-coffee into your third portion of batter along with an extra 1/4 cup of flour.  Chocolate… check.

Time to assemble.  A spoonful of chocolate here, a spoonful of pink there.  Isn’t she pretty?

Once you have all three colors in the cake pan or cupcake paper, you can swirl it if you desire, but I kind of like the way they look separated (and let’s be honest, it’s a whole lot easier just to leave it as is).  Throw it in the oven until cooked and voila.  Neapolitan cake.

Check out the insides of these beauties.  Now that’s a look even the pickiest sweet eater would love.

Finish it up with your favorite frosting and you’re ready for a full blown celebration.

One birthday down, three more to go.  Can someone recommend a good gym?  I think I’m going to need it before this month is over.