Do you know what Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake is? It is a cake made with three different kinds of ice cream: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. The taste combination is very delicious and the whole dessert looks beautiful. The best thing about it is that you too can make one at home, from scratch, the easy way: just follow the recipe below the post!
What is the origin of the Neapolitan cake
This kind of ice cream cake is popular in US much more than in Italy. That is not surprising since its origin comes from Neapolitan immigrants in America. They created frozen dessert with three colours which became popular as Neapolitan ice cream or spumone. Some sources say that the three colours were made in similarity to the Italian flag, but others point to the Neapolitan flag from 1806-1808 which was white, red and black and resembles the actual colours of the Neapolitan ice cream. I guess that's not so relevant but what matters is that the combination of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla is really tasty and flavourful!
How do you make this ice cream cake from scratch
Without pretending to be original, the current recipe is easy and delicious. You need to make a crust similar to a cheesecake and then layer the three ice cream flavours on top. The crust is made of oreo cookies which makes it similar to the first ice cream taste - the chocolate one. Then you add the strawberry layer and on top - the vanilla layer. Making the ice cream mixture is very easy by using cream cheese, whipped cream and condensed milk. Then you need to divide the mixture in three parts and add respectively chocolate, vanilla or strawberry puree to each of them.
The whole preparation doesn't take too long: check out the recipe below for all details!
How to decorate this cake
This is a perfect cake for birthdays and celebrations. In the summer you can decorate it with fresh strawberries. You can also pipe on top some whipped cream or chocolate mousse. If you are lazy, you can just use some sprinkles and chocolate shaves.
I made a chocolate glaze and decorated it with frozen strawberries and sprinkles.
If you liked this recipe, check out also my other ice cream cakes:
Strawberry Ice Cream Cake from Scratch
Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream Cake
Easy Black Forest No Churn Ice Cream Cake
And if you enjoyed the post, I would be very grateful if you share the link in social media so that more people can benefit from it!
📝 Recipe
Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake
Equipment
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 12 oreo cookies
- 3 tbs/ 40 g butter, melted
For the Ice Cream Layers:
- 1 cup/ 250 ml heavy cream, cold
- 10,5 oz / 300 g cream cheese
- 13,4 oz/ 397 ml can sweetened condensed milk
- 3,5 oz / 100 g chocolate, melted
- 1 cup / 150 strawberries, chopped - fresh or frozen
- 1 tbs sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For decoration (optional):
- 4 oz/ 120 g chocolate
- 4 tbs / 60 ml milk or cream
- sprinkles
- strawberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
Crust:
- Crush the cookies to fine crumbs: in a food processor or with a rolling pin in a plastic bag. Combine the crumbs with melted butter and mix very well.
- Press the mixture onto the bottom of a 7-8 inch / 18-20 cm spring form pan lined with a circle of parchment paper.
Ice Cream Mixture:
- In a large mixing bowl whip the cream until thick and creamy.
- In another large bowl beat together cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese and condensed milk mixture.
- Divide the resulting ice cream into three relatively equal parts. Use a kitchen scale or a ladle in order to divide them easier.
Chocolate layer:
- Gradually add the melted chocolate into the first part. Fold it gently in 2-3 portions, until the mixture becomes smooth. Pour the batter on top of the crust in the pan. Leave the pan in the freezer until preparing the next layers.
Strawberry layer:
- Place the strawberries together with the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook them for about 5 minutes or until soft. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into a food processor and puree until smooth.
- Fold the strawberry puree into the second part of the ice cream. Mix gently until absorbed. Pour the strawberry mixture on top of the chocolate layer and leave in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Vanilla layer:
- Add the vanilla extract to the last part of the ice cream. Mix gently with the rubber spatula, until absorbed. Pour on top of the strawberry mixture in the pan.
- Freeze the ice cream cake for at least 6-8 hours or overnight. Decorate before serving.
Decoration (optional):
- Melt the chocolate on a double boiler together with the cream/ milk. Mix until smooth and pour on top of the cake. Distribute the glaze so that it drips from the edges.
- Add sprinkles and few strawberries on top.
Notes
- You can increase slightly the quantity of the cream or the cream cheese in case you have a 8 inch/ 20 cm cake pan.
- While preparing one of the ice cream layers, keep the rest of the mixture in the fridge.
- You can use both milk or dark chocolate for this recipe. Beware that the milk chocolate will sweeten a bit more the layer, which is already sweet.
- Keep the leftovers of this cake in the freezer. Before slicing it, leave the cake for 10-15 minutes at room temperature.
Regina says
Oh, wow, that cake is a show stopper! And it looks easy to assemble. I've heard of using evaporated milk when making ice cream, but I've never tried it. Would you say it's just as sweet or sweeter than store-bought ice cream? Or maybe the evap milk is balanced by the heavy and cream cheeses? In any case, I've got to try this.
Daniela says
Hi Regina! I am glad you like it 😊 Yes, the evaporated milk (or sweetened condensed milk) is very well balanced by the cream and cream cheese so this ice cream is not as sweet as most store bought ones. There is a pretty nice contrast between the tastes of the three layers 😊