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About the Recipe
Chef's notes: Bring your best to the bake sale with this trio of rich, sweet cakes in classic Neapolitan flavors, strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. The cakes are whipped up in no time with a single bakery quality white cake recipe infused with award winning Crave Brothers Mascarpone, and one batch of extra fluffy Mascarpone cream frosting. One ingredient is added to each third of the batter and then the frosting, to create three distinct cakes, all as delicious as they are pretty. The rich, velvety mascarpone cheese lends a superior texture and flavor to this luscious and fun dessert.
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 stick, plus 1 Tablespoon unsalted Land O Lakes Butter, softened
4 ounces Crave Brothers Mascarpone Cheese
1 2/3 Cup sugar
1 Cup half and half
6 extra large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 Cups cake flour
1 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 vanilla bean
1/3 Cup strawberry jam
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
For the frosting:
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Cups heavy whipping cream
1 vanilla bean
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons freeze dried strawberries
1 Tablespoon cacao nibs (or mini chocolate chips)
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350. Use one Tablespoon of butter to grease the wells of a 12-cup mini Bundt pan.
2. Place the stick of butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat butter for one minute, then add the mascarpone and the sugar and beat for another minute.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the half and half, egg whites, and the vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
4. With the stand mixer on low add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar, then add 1/3 of the wet. Repeat three times until all the ingredients are incorporated.
5. Place 1/3 of the cake batter into each of three separate bowls. Score the vanilla bean down the center and scrape out the caviar. Add it to one of the bowls of cake mix. Add the strawberry jam to the second bowl, and the cocoa powder to the third. Stir to combine each mixture.
6. Fill the wells of the mini bundt pan with batter, making four of each flavor.
7. Bake the cakes for 25 to 27 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for ten minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
8. Make the frosting by placing the mascarpone, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir together well and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipping cream. Use the stand mixer to beat the frosting once again until fluffy.
9. Separate the frosting into three bowls. Add the caviar from the vanilla bean to the first bowl, the cocoa powder to the second, and leave the third bowl plain. Place each flavor of frosting into three zip top baggies and cut a hole in the corner of each.
10. Pipe the vanilla bean frosting onto the vanilla cupcake, the chocolate onto the chocolate cake, and the plain frosting onto the strawberry cakes. Top the chocolate cakes with cacao nibs. Crush the freeze-dried strawberries with the back of a spoon and sprinkle them over the strawberry cakes.