Blog With Friends: Summer Sundae Cake

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

This month our theme is Summer and I made a Neapolitan Sundae Cake.

A HUGE thank you to College Boy for making me this GIF. I love it!

Why a cake to represent summer? Try to follow my line of logic here. Well, if you dare.

This recipe came about along the lines of a word association. Summer brought me to ice cream, and ice cream brought me to one often bought for parties when I was a little girl, the neapolitan. Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry all on one plate. For those who can’t decide or something for everyone, perfect for large groups of people. So that was my inspiration.

For this cake I made a basic cake batter and divided it into thirds then adjusted each to include the flavors I was going for, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, of course.

                        

           vanilla layer 

 

               chocolate layer 

 

 

                 strawberry layer

I could have just done 3 separate round cake layers but decided to go with a bunt cake not only for ease but also because, like the ice cream, I didn’t mind if the layers intertwined.

 out of the oven and ready for decorating

And I kicked it up a notch and made this sundae inspired because . . . well . . . chocolate glaze, chopped nuts sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries. Why not?

 

Neapolitan Sundae Cake

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Robin of Someone Else’s Genius shares a jewelry tutorial for her Pineapple Paradise Memory Wire Bracelet.

Rabia of the Lieber Family blog shares a tutorial for a DIY Summer Sit-Upon, a portable padded seat perfect for picnics or ball games.

Melissa of Home on Deranged does the research on summer reading and the technology to do it: Choosing the Right eReader for You.

 Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Summer Kid Activities, keeping the kids occupied while out of school.

Neapolitan Sundae Cake

                                             ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe 

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
 
1 TBSP chocolate syrup
1 TBSP baking cocoa
 
1/4 cup chopped strawberries
1 TBSP strawberry syrup
½ tsp strawberry extract
 
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 TBSP heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
¼ cup powdered sugar
 
Cherries
Chopped walnuts
multicolored jimmies (sprinkles)
whipped cream
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Grease and flour bunt pan. Beat the softened butter with the sugar. Beat in the eggs, then the vanilla.
*Carefully beat in the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
*Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared bunt pan. Using a spatula, even it out as much as possible.
*Divide the rest of the batter evenly into two bowls. To one bowl add the chocolate syrup and baking cocoa. Carefully add this batter on top of the vanilla batter, even it out but don’t press it down into the white batter.
*To the second bowl, add the strawberry syrup, strawberry extract and chopped strawberries. Spread this layer carefully on top of the chocolate layer.
*Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until the center springs back to the touch. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove and cool completely.
*Melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Keep melting at 15 second intervals until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar.
*Immediately pour onto top of and drizzled down the side of cake.
*Garnish the top with the chopped walnuts, sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries.