Neapolitan Cupcakes Food

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat butter with sugar on medium speed in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour.
• Whisk together cocoa powder and 1/4 cup hot water in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer 1 heaping cup (10 ounces) batter to a medium bowl. Add cocoa mixture and stir until just combined; fold in chopped chocolate.
• Divide chocolate batter evenly among muffin cups. Top with remaining vanilla batter. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until golden brown and a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack before removing. Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day in an airtight container at room temperature. Just before serving, spread buttercream over cupcakes.

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Line twenty-two to twenty-six 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups*; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Divide cake batter evenly among three bowls. Stir vanilla into batter in one bowl. Stir cocoa powder and melted chocolate into batter in second bowl. Stir in strawberry preserves and enough red food coloring to turn batter in third bowl pink.
• Spoon 1 tablespoon of the strawberry batter into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Add 1 tablespoon chocolate batter to each muffin cup. Top each muffin cup with 1 tablespoon vanilla batter. (Cups will be one-half to two-thirds full.)
• Bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely.
• Tint half of the Ice Cream Frosting pink with red food coloring. Spoon pink and white frostings side by side into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe frosting over cupcakes to look like soft-serve ice cream; decorate as desired. Chill until ready to serve. Makes 22 to 26 (2-1/2-inch) cupcakes. Ice Cream Frosting
• Allow cream cheese and butter to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. If using, allow ice cream to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in ice cream, if using, or whipping cream to reach piping consistency. Chill until ready to use.

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large heat proof mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and baking soda. Carefully pour in boiling water and whisk until bubbling subsides and mixture is well blended, allow to cool for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend together melted butter, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, vanilla and salt until well combined, about 30 seconds. Stir in egg and egg yolk. Blend in cocoa mixture then blend in heavy cream. Slowly mix in flour and blend until combined, while scraping down sides and bottom of bowl.
• Spoon an even 1/8 cup (2 Tbsp) into bottom of 22 paper lined muffin cups and spread into an even layer, set aside.
• Sift cake flour into a medium mixing bowl. Add baking powder and salt and whisk mixture 20 seconds, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and sugar with vanilla bean seeds on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. In separate mixing bowl whisk together milk, egg whites and vanilla extract until well blended.
• Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter/sugar mixture, then mix until combined, then add 1/2 of the milk/egg mixture and mix on low speed until combined then increase to medium speed and mix 1 minute (if you are using a paddle attachment that doesn't constantly scrape bowl, then mix 1 1/2 minutes and occasionally scrape down sides and bottom of bowl throughout mixing.
• Batter should become fluffy). Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until combined, then add remaining 1/2 of the milk/egg mixture and mix on low until combined then increase to medium and mix 1 minute (1 1/2 minutes with regular paddle attachment, it should have the consistency similar to fluffy mousse). Add last 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until well combined.
• Gently dollop a heaping 1/8 cup over chocolate layer in cupcake wells and carefully spread batter evenly to edges.
• Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean, about 16 - 19 minutes. Cool in baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (once cool immediately store in an airtight container). Pipe or spread strawberry frosting over cupcake once cooled.
• Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, make the strawberry buttercream frosting (you'll need to make a double batch of the recipe I've linked).

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES WITH STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the batter: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. One at a time, add the eggs, mixing each one in completely before adding the next. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.
• In another bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer running, add a third of the flour mixture and then the milk, beating just to incorporate. Beat in the remaining flour mixture. Divide the batter between two bowls and set one bowl aside (this will be the white cake batter).
• Mix the cocoa powder into the remaining bowl of batter (this will be the chocolate batter).
• Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Divide the white cake batter evenly among the muffin cups, and then do the same with the chocolate batter.
• Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool while you prepare the buttercream.
• For the strawberry buttercream: Puree the strawberries in a blender until completely smooth. Press through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until reduced by half, about 10 minutes; you'll need at least 1/2 cup. Cool completely.
• In a mixing bowl, add 3 cups of the confectioners' sugar, the butter and the vanilla and beat with a hand mixer until combined. Add the strawberry reduction, beat until incorporated, and then gradually add the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH NEAPOLITAN FROSTING

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
• Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together 1 cup water and the oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 5 minutes, then remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
• For the frosting: In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until soft and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Add 1 tablespoon water; beat to the desired consistency. Remove half of the frosting to a bowl. To the remaining half, add the red food coloring and strawberry preserves; beat until incorporated.
• Fit a piping bag with a star tip. Set the bag, tip-side down, in a large cup and fill with both frostings, keeping each color separate in one half of the bag. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Prepare brownie batter, then cake batter in separate bowls as directed on packages. Spoon brownie batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups; cover with cake batter.
• Bake 21 to 24 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
• Spoon frosting into medium bowl. Add COOL WHIP; whisk until blended. Spread onto cupcakes.

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Line a cupcake tin with cases. Cream the sugar with the butter using an electric whisk, until combined. Crack in the egg and add the vanilla extract, then whisk to combine. Add half the flour, the baking powder and a pinch of salt, whisk to combine, then add half the milk and whisk briefly again. Repeat to use the remaining flour and milk. Don't worry if the mixture seems loose.
• Spoon about half the mixture into a separate bowl, add the cocoa and chocolate chips and stir well to combine.
• Using a teaspoon, divide the chocolate mixture between the 12 cupcake cases. Use a wooden skewer to spread the mixture evenly to the edges. Rinse and dry the teaspoon then repeat with the vanilla layer, taking care not to disturb the chocolate below and spreading to the edges again.
• Bake for 25 mins. Leave to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, sift the icing sugar, then combine with the butter using an electric whisk. It will look crumbly initially - persevere and it will come together. If you're icing is too stiff, add 1 tbsp milk to the mixture. Carefully add 1-2 drops of the food colouring and combine to make a pale pink frosting to ice the cakes. When you cut them in half, the coloured layers will be revealed.