Neapolitan Cupcakes

We don't have much of a winter here, there's probably only a handful of days each year you can get away with comfortably wearing a coat. I really enjoy it when it does finally get cold , most of my favorite activities are winter activities, drinking heaps of hot chocolate, wearing funny looking fuzzy socks, eating and some more eating.

One other thing I really enjoy when things get cold is icecream, I love going out for icecream on a chilly night. Now eating a frozen treats in the cold probably isn't everyone's idea of fun, but in cupcake form anyone can enjoy this icecream classic all year round.

Neapolitan was one those ice-cream flavours that always lived in our fridge, my brother and I would eat through the chocolate and vanilla flavours and leave the bar of strawberry in the middle. That was then, this is now, not one little bit of these neapolitan cupcakes got left behind. They were yummy with a capital YUM. The marble cake turned out very pretty and the buttercream flavours were delicious weather eaten all together or one by one.

For the cupcakes

125 grams butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 self-raising flour

1/3 cup milk

pink food colouring

Strawberry flavouring

1 tablespoon cocoa

2 teaspoons milk, extra

To make the cupcakes- Preheat to 180 degrees c. and line one cupcake tray with papers.

Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs in a bowl until light and fluffy.

Stir in half the sifted flour, followed by the milk, followed by the second half of the flour. Mix until combined.

Divde the mixture evenly into three bowls. Mix the cocoa and extra milk to form a paste, stir into one of the bowls of cake mix. Add a little pink food colour and strawberry flavouring to taste to the second bowl. Leave the third bowl of mixture plain.

Drop alternating spoons of coloured mixture into the cake pans, until all the mix is used.

Using a skewer or small knife, gently pull backward and forward through the mix to make the marble pattern.

Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until a skewer poked into the centres comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

Spread the cooled cupcakes with the three colours of icing.

For the Buttercream

125 grams butter, softened

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Pink food colouring

Strawberry flavouring

1 tablespoon cocoa

2 teaspoons milk, extra

Vanilla extract

To make the buttercream- Beat the softened butter in a bowl until fluffy and very light in colour. Add the icing sugar and milk and continue beating until smooth.

Divide the buttercream evenly into three bowls, colour one bowl with pink food colouring adding a few drops of strawberry flavouring. Combine the cocoa and remaining milk, mix into the second bowl of icing . Leave the third bowl of frosting white, adding a little vanilla extract to taste.

Enjoy!