Print Friendly and PDF

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Neapolitan Christmas Cake

 Baking Partners#5 challenge for this month is Christmas Cakes and we were suggested three wonderful recipes.I chose to bake the Neapolitan Christmas cake by Susan Kelliher Ungaro  (ed.)Family Circle-Best Ever Cakes and Cookies, Broadway Book, New York,2001, p. 214 .I must admit that this is a very light,fluffy moist cake perfect for any celebration and each bite into this cake was very delicious.If you are planning for a small bake for Christmas,go ahead & try this cake.My son has already demanded this cake for his birthday too.Try n you will surely love it !!!




Ingredients
cake flour(not self rising) 1 cup (refer notes)
ground almonds ½ cup
baking powder 1 tsp
salt ¼ tsp
egg whites (about 1 cup) 8 
cream of tartar ¼ tsp(refer notes)
granulated sugar ¾ cup
almond extract ¼ tsp(refer notes)
Green and red food coloring

Filling and topping
unflavored gelatin 1 tsp
heavy cream 1 ¾ cup
confectionary sugar 3 tsp -5tsp
strawberry jam ¼ cup(refer notes)
coconut flakes, sweetened ¾ cup(refer notes)



Method-
-Pre heat oven to 350 degree F. Coat three loaf 9 1/4 *5 ¼ inch loaf pan with non stick cooking spray and line with wax paper. Instead of using three separate pans ,I used a 8* 8 square pan and divided the pan with a foil wrapped several times to help reinforce the divide,then fold the parchment paper in half and foil in the crease.Place it in the tray and butter the pan so that the parchment paper is well glued.And I made the third part into bread loaf pan 9*5 pan.


(Preparing a square pan by a foil divider)
-Whisk together flour, ground almonds(refer notes), baking powder and salt. In a separate clean gfrease free bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar(or salt) until foamy. Gradually add granulated sugar in medium high until stiff peaks are formed. Sprinkle half of the flour mixture over the beaten egg whites and fold in gently. Repeat with the remaining flour and fold in almond /vanilla extract.


(Batter preparation steps)
-Measure ¼ cup of batter into two separate bowls and mix one with green food color and another with pink and keep the remaining as white. Pour this batter into three separate pans/prepared pans. 
-Bake for about 12 minutes. (mine was done at 12)The center of the cake layers springs back when lightly pressed with finger tips. Invert cake into wire racks and allow cooling.

Prepare the filling
-Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup of cream and let it stand for one minute to soften. Stir over low heat until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat.
-With a mixer on medium speed beat the remaining 1 1/2 cup cream and confectioners sugar till it thickens and is frothy. Add gelatin mixture. Beat until stiff peaks form.


(Frosting & layering)

Assembling the Cake
-Place green cake on a platter and spread two tablespoons of jam over the cake and then spread 1/3 cup of whipped cream on top. Sprinkle with ¼ cup of coconut flakes. Repeat layering with white cake and finally place the pink cake on top. Sprinkle the rest of the coconut on top of the cake.Smooth out the whipping cream.
-Refrigerate the cake for 45 minutes or till the whipped cream is firm.And can make designs on top.I added a few halved cherries.




NOTES
* I blanched the almonds in hot boiling water and removed the skin.Wiped it dry on a paper towel and then powdered it.You can use almond with skins too.Measure the ground almonds and not the almond as a whole for the cake.
* You can substitute the cake flour by using all purpose flour & corn starch.The measures are for making 1 cup cake flour: 2 tablespoon corn starch + Rest of all purpose flour.I used this substitution by adding 2 tbsp of corn starch in the measure and then filling the rest with all purpose flour upto the 1 cup mark.
* You can add a pinch of salt in place of cream of tartar.
* I have added vanilla extract instead of almond extract.
* I used a two drops of red color to make pink.
* I have used raspberry jam instead of strawberry jam.You can use either of the two.
* I haven't added coconut flakes in layers,instead topped with maraschino cherries.
* The original recipe calls for 3tsp confectioners sugar in the filling but I increased to 5 tsp as it was very mildy sweet.


Sending this to  Baking Partners# 5 started off by Swathi @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen
\Baking Partners

59 comments:

Mélange said... Best Blogger Tips

Looks perfect with the creaming and moist inside..I loved this cake Julie.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Julie this is fantastic....love the deco...

great-secret-of-life said... Best Blogger Tips

So tempting cake!
http://great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

Thermofan. Marisa G. said... Best Blogger Tips

Hi Julie, I like your cake. I tried to make it but it was a disaster. I have to use sweeteners and the cake was not soft, so I decided to make changes but wihtout the pressure of having everything prepared today. So that, I'll bake it again and hope to have better results.
Regards from Spain

Home Cooked food said... Best Blogger Tips

Please parcel me this one.

divyagcp said... Best Blogger Tips

Cake looks beautiful, Julie.. Am sure this cake needs a lot of effort and time, but looks totally worth it.. Great job dear!!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Love the colours, love the icing, a lovely christmas cake!

Janani said... Best Blogger Tips

Chu chu train love the cake it looks so soft and fluffy.

Vimitha Durai said... Best Blogger Tips

Thats an awesome bake... Would love a slice

Mahi said... Best Blogger Tips

Cake looks attractive and delicious!

Ola said... Best Blogger Tips

this is just amazing cake!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

that is one lovely cake....good job as always.

www.mahaslovelyhome.com said... Best Blogger Tips

super cake....nice explanation vth step wise pics..perfect 4 celebration...
Maha

Ganga Sreekanth said... Best Blogger Tips

Julie ithu kandittu kothi varunnuuu. . .Kurachu ingu tharuuuu

Reshmi Mahesh said... Best Blogger Tips

Cake looks soft and perfect...Great job..

Beena said... Best Blogger Tips

Yummy cake dear

Swathi said... Best Blogger Tips

Beautiful cake , you did very well. Can you link to linky tool.

Reshmi said... Best Blogger Tips

beautiful cake..
Noel collections

Rashida Shaikh said... Best Blogger Tips

Is this authentic recipe of Neapolitan cake?
Piece is so attractive...

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Beautifully done cake :) looks superb and love the perfect layers yum

Amina Creations said... Best Blogger Tips

wow...cake looks fantastic... can see how much effort has gone into it... perfect!!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

very nicely done Julie!!! Love the three layers and the cake looks awesome!!!
Sowmya
Ongoing Event - Eggless Bakes and Treats
Ongoing Event - SYF&HWS - Ginger

Kaveri Venkatesh said... Best Blogger Tips

Looks very good Julie...Would love to try it sometime

Mrs.Ahmed said... Best Blogger Tips

woo lovely presentation and looks so tempting :)

Faseela said... Best Blogger Tips

Cake adipo;li aayittunde.......super yum

Manju said... Best Blogger Tips

wow julie...this looks so tempting

misha said... Best Blogger Tips

Nice layered cake Julie. Good one

Chef Mireille said... Best Blogger Tips

looks beautiful

farah saleem said... Best Blogger Tips

good job julie! looks great

cookingvarieties said... Best Blogger Tips

hi julie, yes i would use all purpose glour for easier job.. this cake sure looks delicious and soft..
strawberry makes it so attractive too. happy baking for xmas

Rita said... Best Blogger Tips

Just beautiful! I've always wanted to make this; very tempting.

Sanoli Ghosh said... Best Blogger Tips

Amazingly made this cake dear. Your rectangular shaped cake tempts me a lot. If I could bite a piece now...

today's recipe:
http://sanolisrecipies.blogspot.in/2012/12/spinach-curry.html

Hema said... Best Blogger Tips

Cake looks gorgeous, no wonder your son has asked it for his b'day..

divya said... Best Blogger Tips

looks great n gorgeous cake..

Vidya Chandrahas said... Best Blogger Tips

Very beautiful cake...lovely presentation..yum

Sandhya Ramakrishnan said... Best Blogger Tips

The cake looks very delightful Julie! I am going to make it for my son's B'day too :) I am a big follower of you and your EP series. Good to know you through baking partners too :)

Sandhya

Priya Suresh said... Best Blogger Tips

Wish i get a slice, never tried a cake with egg whites, will make some soon.

Sangeetha Priya said... Best Blogger Tips

Very well done, loved it!!!
Today's Special - CheckerBoard Cake | No Special Equipments n Stepwise Pics

Julie said... Best Blogger Tips

@Swathi Iyer
I have already linked,Swathi dear:)

jasna varcakovic said... Best Blogger Tips

Looks great...yum!

Suja Manoj said... Best Blogger Tips

Moist and tempting cake,you made it perfectly dear,love it.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow, so perfectly soft & moist. Looks great.

Madhavi said... Best Blogger Tips

WOW post..looks awesome!!!

http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/

Sangeetha M said... Best Blogger Tips

wow...beautifully done cake, looks so perfect n delicious dear...lovely pics n presentation!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

This came out so well :) congratulations

Sweet'n'Savoury said... Best Blogger Tips

Beautifully done..loved it

foodgalleri said... Best Blogger Tips

Beautiful cake Julie!! perfect for the season.. great job!!

Regards,
Bindu
http://indianrecipegalleri.blogspot.in/

Priya Satheesh said... Best Blogger Tips

Beautiful and awesome work done:) Looks very yummy yummy!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Perfectly done dear...looks moist and very tempting cake...

PinayinTexas said... Best Blogger Tips

Good job on this month's challenge! Your Neapolitan cake looks awesome!

Rachel said... Best Blogger Tips

Beautiful layers..

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Absolutely yumm.love the cake.beautifully done.

Rachana said... Best Blogger Tips

A beautiful cake! Looks absolutely delicious.

LaavysKitchen said... Best Blogger Tips

Cake looks so good.Its a lot of work.Well done :)

Ambreen (Simply Sweet n Savory) said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow! Looks fantastic! Great job, Julie!

Priya Srinivasan - I Camp in My Kitchen said... Best Blogger Tips

stunning it is!!love those layers!!!!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

creamy and moist..love the cherries on top. such sweet result for the labour of love.

Jannet Loves to Experiment said... Best Blogger Tips

That looks like a lot of work. But is perfect. Good work Julie...

Archana said... Best Blogger Tips

O how did I miss this beauty?
Lovely cake.