Vegan Neapolitan Cake
Let’s Celebrate with Vegan Neapolitan Cake. 🍓🍫
Three layers of deliciousness: a vanilla sponge, strawberry sponge and chocolate sponge all decorated with the fluffiest vegan buttercream – who wants a slice?!
Serves 8-10
Equipment:
Tala Originals 1960's Flour Tin
Time: 60 minutes plus cooling
Ingredients:
For the Sponge Cake:
360ml plant-based milk
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
180g caster sugar
120ml sunflower oil
1 ½ tsp vanilla essence
315g self-raising flour
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
½ tsp strawberry essence
A drop of pink food gel
1 tbsp cocoa powder
For the Buttercream Filling:
250g vegan butter, softened
500g icing sugar
3 tbsp aquafaba or plant-based milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
¼ tsp strawberry essence
A drop of pink food gel
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2-4 tbsp strawberry jam
To Decorate:
Fresh strawberries
Fresh mint
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line three 6-inch cake tins with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the plant-based milk and lemon juice and let it sit and curdle for 5 minutes. Now whisk in the sugar, oil and vanilla.
- Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and add the salt. Whisk to a smooth batter with no specks of flour.
- Divide the batter equally between three bowls. To the first bowl, add the strawberry powder, strawberry essence and pink food gel and whisk to combine. To the second bowl, add the cocoa powder and whisk till smooth. Leave the third bowl vanilla.
- Pour each batter into a cake tin and smooth over the top. Bake for 22-24 minutes, until risen and golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the tin then lift out carefully and cool fully on a wire rack. Place in the fridge before icing.
- For the buttercream, add the softened butter to a large bowl with a freestanding mixer or electric handheld mixer and beat for 1-2 minutes till smooth. Now gradually beat in the icing sugar, vanilla essence and aquafaba, and continue to mix for 2-3 minutes till really fluffy.
- Take 1/5 (approx. 150g) of the buttercream and place in a small bowl. Stir in the strawberry powder, essence and pink food gel and mix to combine. Take another 1/5 (approx. 150g) of the buttercream and place in a small bowl with the cocoa powder and mix till smooth, adding a splash or aquafaba or milk, if needed. Leave the remaining buttercream vanilla, and place half of this in a piping bag.
- If the cakes had domed, slice off the tops so they are level. Place the chocolate sponge on a serving plate and pipe on the vanilla buttercream. Smooth over with a palette knife, making an indent in the middle. Fill this with some jam.
- Place the strawberry sponge on top and repeat with buttercream and jam. Top with the vanilla sponge. Now, fill in any gaps round the sides with vanilla buttercream before swirling on the chocolate buttercream over the chocolate sponge, the strawberry buttercream over the strawberry sponge and the vanilla over the sides of the vanilla sponge and over the top, too.
- Decorate with strawberries and mint and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to set the buttercream. Use a sharp knife to slice and enjoy straight away. Keep the cake in the fridge, covered well for up to 3-5 days.
- Unfrosted cakes can be kept in the freezer, wrapped well, for up to 1 month., Allow to thaw before decorating as above.