neapolitan layer cake
31.
You know, I wish I were one of those people who write those frilly little captions like “This year was tough, but I’m tougher, and I’m coming out of all this with optimism and knowing better days are ahead!” The truth of the matter, though, is when my birthday rolls around, I kinda just take what has happened and what might happen in the future as neither pessimistic nor optimistic. I’m just practical about it.
Did these tribulations make me a stronger person? I don’t know. Am I going to look back with gratitude about all the shit 2024 threw at me? Probably not. I’m just taking it for what it is: it fucking sucked, by and large. Do I know whether it’ll contribute to my growth moving forward? I have no idea. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Maybe it just is. Maybe the lessons involved are just subtle, and will accumulate over time without me even really noticing.
2024, year 30, was not my year. The tone of my 30th, my Golden Birthday, sort of preluded the thematic elements of the months following. I struggled with my worst depressive spells for many years. I watched a friend deteriorate via a drug addiction, was wrenched away from him without ceremony in a matter of a few days (he’s doing so much better now, thank god). I plowed through car trouble after car trouble. I questioned my place in existence, questioned my worth, was faced with a perpetual question of what the purpose of everything was, why I’m here, why I still haven’t grounded myself into a job or career I truly love, why my friendships fizzle out so fast, why I still live in Florida, and what the point of moving forward was. Some days, I really, truly didn’t want to keep going.
I wanted to give in, and give up.
Yes. I was in a bad place for many weeks and months. The hurt ebbed and flowed. Perhaps it’s all a giant lesson, perhaps the universe just laid out its dominos, walked away, let them fall one by one and didn’t intend for the pain to encapsulate the year as much as it did. A passive universe is a more appealing concept than one who listens to my pleas and simply says No. The course is set, the story written, and now it’s just occurring at the pace it’s meant to occur.
That aside, let’s get into some of the high points, shall we? Not all was lost in 2024!
I tightened my relationship with my best friend and his fiance. I leaned hard on them and felt support I didn’t know I had, and didn’t think I deserved. The love brought me out of the depths on a few occasions and lent a glimmer of salvation, a spark of energy. I don’t think they know how much they mean to me, but I hope they have an idea.
I started attending therapy. It’s been transcendental. I’ve clawed deeply into my past and emerged with many revelations about why I am how I am and what I can do to regulate those difficult moments. I think it’s made me better, or at least better equipped. I found some answers. I found an unbiased ear that hears what I’m saying, and a voice that encourages my journey in developing some self compassion.
I rekindled my passion with FMG. Towards the end of 2023 I fell away from my development because, I don’t know, I just wasn’t inspired. I was dissatisfied with the perceived lack of progress I saw in its popularity. Now, while I wish to expand and make it more of a thing than it is now, I anticipate creating my new recipes and watching them come to life. The craft is fun again for me.
I visited my sister in Pennsylvania in November. We both really needed this cohesive time together and during my stay I think I made one of my core life memories: my BIL’s shoe melting as we roasted s’mores around a fire pit. Whenever I retell this story I laugh so hard the tears don’t stop streaming. I will share this tale to my death bed.
Just a few days ago, I bought a car! My first huge purchase as an adult. I wrote enough about it in this week’s Sidebar but I wanted to mention it again because the acquisition was so satisfying from an independence standpoint. Roly Poly is my new baby, and I plan to keep her as long as I possibly can.
Christmas Eve, Christmas were lovely. I reunited with my aforementioned friend on the 25th. I made a new friend at work. I visited countless new eateries and coffee shops. I raced five 5Ks, set a new personal best, and one 10K. I’m signed up for a February half marathon. I’ve encountered wonderful people who strove to help when I struggled with my old car. I’ve swept through some days just happy to have accomplished one small thing, like cooking a meal or cleaning a long neglected space that was due for a spiff-up.
No, year 30 wasn’t all bad. Many, many poor moments, but some good ones, too. Those are the ones I hopefully remember more than the ones where I just wanted everything to end.
Can I be honest? Now that I’ve written all that out, I don’t much feel like typing directions to this cake. Even though it is my most elaborate cake yet. I put up a poll on Instagram a while back asking what kind of cake I should bake for my birthday, and as per usual, I listened to 0 of the suggestions (though I still loved the feedback!) This one just popped to mind one day and I knew I had to run with it.
Three cakes, three buttercreams, a bit of a labor of love. But so worth it. A beautiful piece if you’re entertaining a crowd, as there’s certainly a flavor everyone will love. Plus, it’s just plain gorgeous.
Triple the Fun
Well, it wouldn’t be a food post without some type of recipe explanation. I’ll keep it simple, though.
The base cakes for this recipe came from vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate cakes I’ve made in the past. The lattermost had a couple small modifications just because I wanted to play a little – but all three are the same moist, supple, sweet cakes you’d expect from an FMG recipe.
Make sure you have three 9 inch pans for this recipe. 6 inch won’t work here. Each base recipe is cut in half (except the strawberry, which was already a half recipe in the linked post above). Grease them all with butter and oil, and heat your oven to 350.
I don’t want to bore you by writing out how to mix your batter for all three cakes. It’s in the recipe card, anyway. The following sequence is standard for all of them, with a few obvious tweaks based on the layer.
First, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Whip in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and Greek yogurt.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stream in the buttermilk with the mixer running until the batter is combined. Do not overmix.
As you go, pour each batter into one of the prepared cake pans. Bake them together for 30-35 minutes. Let cool in the pans 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and flip onto wire racks to cool completely. Give them at least an hour, or wrap and store in the fridge overnight, or up to 3 days.
FYI – I’d like to point out that my cake pans are not different sizes! The one housing the vanilla cake had a different shape, but they’re equal diameter. I promise I wouldn’t do a dirty on your like that. It’d also be just plain stupid.
Buttah Buttah Buttah
Like the batters, the buttercreams have a very similar base and style, with add-ons depending on the flavor.
You can really arrange the cakes in whatever order you’d like, but I chose to start with the vanilla. Plop the cake onto a cake stand or a flat plate. If you have a turnstyle (or whatever the shit it’s called) this will make frosting way easier. I go savage on the process because I do not have one.
Then, whip up your buttercream. Mix the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar slowly to incorporate, then add a few tablespoons of heavy cream to get the combo more cohesive. Turn up the speed and tornado that shit until fluffy. You will likely need more cream to achieve a soft texture.
Frost on the top and along the sides of the vanilla layer. Smooth out as best you can with your spatula and/or a bench scraper.
Next, the strawberry. Follow the directions precisely except you’ll be adding some ground, freeze-dried strawberries to the frosting. Take care to make as clean a line as possible between the vanilla and chocolate frostings, though as you can see in my photos, perfection is damn difficult and probably not obtainable for us everyday derps.
Finish with your chocolate cake. The buttercream here is one of my favorites of all time; cocoa powder is the only difference between this and the vanilla variety.
Clean up any gaps and frayed edges with extra frosting – I kept the excess of each flavor in small bowls once I finished doing the bulk of each layer. However your cake looks at the end, just know it is going to be phenomenal, and beloved by you and anyone else who gets the honor to try it.
Birthdays are weird. Days are weird. As with anything, though, we do our best to get through them and, hopefully, enjoy them to a point. We’ll see how today goes, but no matter what, at least I know I have a sweet treat to sit down with, and much to be proud of, if I think about it.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Cakes worthy of a birthday:
Classic Yellow Celebration Cake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream
Swirled Cranberry Champagne Cake
neapolitan layer cake
Ingredients
vanilla cake
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
vanilla buttercream
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-5 tbsp heavy cream
strawberry cake
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries, ground to 1/4 cup
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2-3 drops red food coloring (optional)
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
strawberry buttercream
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries, ground to 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-5 tbsp heavy cream
chocolate cake
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp black cocoa powder (or more regular cocoa powder)
- 1 tsp instant espresso (optional)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
chocolate buttercream
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-5 tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 9-inch cake pans with oil or butter.
Vanilla cake
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Whip in the vanilla and Greek yogurt. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running, slowly stream in the buttermilk, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix. Pour and spread into one of the cake pans.
Strawberry cake
- In a food processor, blitz the freeze dried strawberries into a powder. Sift in a bowl with the sugar. In a large bowl, beat the butter and strawberry sugar until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Whip in the vanilla, food dye (if using) and Greek yogurt. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running, slowly stream in the buttermilk, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix. Pour and spread into the second cake pan.
Chocolate cake
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until soft and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, then the vanilla extract and Greek yogurt. Add the flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa powder, instant espresso (if using), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running, stream in the buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Pour and spread into the third cake pan.
- Bake the layers for 30-35 minutes until the centers are set and an inserted toothpick emerges with just a few moist crumbs. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to release the layers and flip onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
Vanilla buttercream
- In a bowl, whip the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium high, add 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, and whip until very light and fluffy. Add more heavy cream as needed to achieve a silky texture.
- Place the vanilla cake layer on a cake stand or flat plate. Frost the top and down the sides with the vanilla buttercream. Smooth out the texture as needed by running a bench scraper around the perimeter.
Strawberry buttercream
- In a bowl, whip the butter, ground strawberries, vanilla, and powdered sugar on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium high, add 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, and whip until very light and fluffy. Add more heavy cream as needed to achieve a silky texture.
- Place the strawberry cake layer on a cake stand or flat plate. Frost the top and down the sides with the strawberry buttercream, being careful not to slide into the vanilla frosting as much as possible. Smooth out the texture as needed by running a bench scraper around the perimeter.
Milk chocolate buttercream
- In a bowl, whip the butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, and powdered sugar on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium high, add 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, and whip until very light and fluffy. Add more heavy cream as needed to achieve a silky texture.
- Place the chocolate cake layer on a cake stand or flat plate. Frost the top and down the sides with the chocolate buttercream, being careful not to slide into the vanilla frosting as much as possible. Take your bench scraper and smooth out the whole cake as much as possible. I'm clearly shite at this, but if you have more skill than I, your cake will look beautifully clean.
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