Birthday Cake for Mom

My fantastic mother had a birthday this week, although remarkably, she didn't get any older... and to mark the occasion, I made a six-layer Neapolitan cake with strawberry buttercream and a chocolate glaze.  It was simply fabulous!

The inside picture looks messy, because we ate it up so fast, there were lots of slices gone by the time I got a picture of it.

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Generously covers 9-inch 2-layer or 8-inch 3-layer or 24 cupcakes

4 egg whites (use whole eggs for flavored buttercreams)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

pinch salt

4 sticks unsalted butter, soft

1/4 cup frozen strawberries, thawed

Place egg whites, vanilla, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer and gently whisk over simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is 150 degrees, about 3-5 minutes. Place bowl on mixer and whip on high speed 7 minutes. Scrape down bowl. On medium speed, add butter 1/2 stick at a time, counting 10 seconds between additions. Mixture may look curdled. Increase speed to high and whip until it smooths out. Beat in strawberries on medium speed until combined.