Neapolitan Cupcakes

I have always had trouble making up my mind. Making decisions is just not my strong suit. Simply picking what I want when I go out for dinner is a task. (I just about lost ALL of my marbles when trying to pick a college). I try to avoid decisions as much as possible. If I have the choices of vanilla, chocolate, or swirl frozen yogurt, I'll totally pick swirl. It's like not having to make a decision at all! Plus it tastes so much better than just plain ol' vanilla or chocolate. Because of this, I was always intrigued by Neapolitan ice cream. You can have 3 flavors for the price of 1! Plus it looked so nice with the strips of pink, brown, and white all lined up in the carton. So, I  decided to do the same thing with my cupcakes. 3 flavors, 1 cupcake. And let me tell you, they were one of the best decisions I have ever made. These cupcakes were so much fun. They looked cool and tasted great! We sold these at a rotaract bake sale for "pennies for polio".

Some lovely Rotaracters with lots of baked goods for a good cause!

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES:

1 1/2 cup flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt 

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Splash of Vanilla

3 T Seedless strawberry jam

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup milk

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. Mix in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour and milk until totally combined. 

Separate the batter equally into 3 bowls. Leave one of the bowls alone. This is going to be the vanilla part of the cake. In another bowl, add the strawberry jam and mix until combined. In the last bowl, beat in the cocoa powder. 

In lined cupcake tins, layer the batters, being cautious to not mix them together (the color of these cupcakes can get pretty gross really fast). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry

Vanilla

Chocolate

Slurp

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter (room temp)

3 cups powdered sugar

Generous splash of vanilla

1 generous squeeze of honey

1 T heavy cream

Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, honey, and vanilla slowly until combined. Add the cream to bring the frosting together. Whip until the buttercream is thick and fluffy. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.

These cupcakes were totally yummy. The honey in the frosting gives it a nice little zing but it doesn't really give it a honey flavor. I loved the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors. It was just a fun cupcake! I've been feeling a little creative with my piping lately so look out for some new piping experimentation in the future!

If only every decision was as easy as picking a cupcake recipe!

xoxo,

KG