High Altitude Neapolitan Cupcakes (Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla)

High altitude Neapolitan cupcakes, made with moist chocolate cupcakes, strawberry and vanilla swirl buttercream, and the cutest mini chocolate ice cream cone toppers. Just like their Neapolitan ice cream namesake, these adorable cupcakes combine three delicious flavors of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, for an irresistible treat.

You might also love this Neapolitan no churn ice cream and Neapolitan layer cake.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla. Chocolate cupcakes with strawberry and vanilla buttercream is the most delicious combination, and all the flavors complement each other perfectly. If you loved Neapolitan ice cream as a kid, these Neapolitan cupcakes will definitely be a new favorite recipe of yours.

Moist for Days. My high altitude chocolate cupcakes get so many rave reviews for their exceptional chocolate flavor and moist, fluffy texture.

Pretty and Summery. The pink and white swirled frosting is so lovely, and the mini ice cream cone makes the cutest cupcake topper for a summer birthday party.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• Chocolate Cupcakes. For the cupcakes, my chocolate cupcakes are quick and easy to make, incredibly moist, and delicious with any flavor of buttercream.

Buttercream

• American Vanilla Buttercream. Rather than making separate batches of strawberry and vanilla buttercream, you only need to make vanilla. Then, you’ll be adding some crushed freeze dried strawberries and cream to half the buttercream, to add a punch of strawberry flavor.
• Freeze Dried Strawberries. You can usually find these at King Soopers, on the candy aisle. But Target also carries a good selection of freeze dried fruit on the the dried fruit and nuts aisle. The strawberries can easily be crushed into a powder to mix into the buttercream.
• Cream or Milk.

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

• Prepare and bake the chocolate cupcakes as instructed.
• Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

Strawberry Vanilla Buttercream

• Prepare 3x the recipe vanilla buttercream. (Tip: For a whiter buttercream, substitute half the butter with vegetable shortening.)
• Divide the buttercream evenly between 2 bowls. To one bowl of buttercream, add the crushed freeze dried strawberries and the cream, and stir until combined.

Assembly

• Fill two 12-inch piping bags halfway full with buttercream, one with vanilla and one with strawberry. Snip off the tips.
• Fit a 16-inch piping bag with tip 1M, and drop the two smaller bags of buttercream into the larger one, so the colors are side by side.

• Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, refilling the piping bags as needed.

Mini Ice Cream Cone Toppers

• For the mini ice cream cone toppers, I used tip 4B and a small amount of chocolate buttercream (leftover from these Boston cream pie cupcakes) to pipe little swirls on top of the chocolate filled cones.
• The cones will absorb moisture from the cake, so they should not be placed on top of the cupcakes until ready to serve.
• You could very easily make these mini cones, simply by cutting off the bottoms of some sugar cones or waffle cones, and filling them with melted chocolate or buttercream. They would likely taste much better, too, because, quite honestly, I wasn’t too impressed with the taste of these little cones (which I found at Home Goods), although they sure looked cute.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store leftover Neapolitan cupcakes?

Store the cupcakes (without the ice cream cone toppers) in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Where can I find freeze dried strawberries?

You can find freeze dried strawberries at Target and at King Soopers, or you can buy freeze dried strawberry powder.

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