Neapolitan ice cream is made up of blocks of chocolate

Chocolate ice cream

Chocolate ice cream is a flavor of ice cream. It is the second most common flavor of ice cream, after vanilla. The flavor has been in existence for well over a hundred years, and has been popular in the United States since the late 19th century. Chocolate ice cream is made by blending in cocoa...

, vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

 and strawberry

Garden Strawberry

The garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa, is a hybrid species that is cultivated worldwide for its fruit, the strawberry. The fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness...

 ice cream

Ice cream

Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...

 side by side in the same container (typically with no packaging in between).

Neapolitan ice cream was named in the late 19th century as a reflection of its cosmopolitan presumed origins in the cuisine of the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 city of Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, and the many Neapolitan immigrants who brought their expertise in frozen desserts

Gelato

Gelato is the italian word for ice cream and sorbet. Italians use the word gelato to mean a sweet treat that is served frozen. Indeed, gelato, just like ice cream, is made with Milk, cream, various sugars, flavoring including fresh fruit and nut purees....

 with them to the United States. Spumoni

Spumoni

Spumone , plural spumoni, is a molded Italian ice cream made with layers of different colors and flavors, usually containing candied fruits and nuts....

 was introduced to the United States in the 1870s as Cosmopolitan-style ice cream. Early recipes used a variety of flavors; however the number of three molded together was a common denominator. More than likely chocolate, vanilla and strawberry became the standard for the reason that they were the most popular flavors in the United States at the time of introduction.

Quotes from food historians

"Cosmopolitan

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

 slice. A slice of ice-cream cake

Ice cream cake

Ice cream cake is either ice cream in the shape of a cake or ice cream and cake layered together to make a single form. The idea of ice cream cake came from desserts composed of cream and cookies or cake called trifles, which first turned up in the Renaissance...

 made with mousse

Mousse

Mousse is derived from the French word mousse which means "lather" or "foam". A mousse is a prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture...

 mixture and ordinary ice cream, presented in a small pleat

Pleat

A pleat is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference....

ed paper case. Cosmopolitan ice cream consists of three layers, each of a different colour and flavour (chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla), moulded into a block and cut into slices.
Neapolitan ice-cream makers were famous in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 at the beginning of the 19th century, especially Tortoni, creator of numerous ice-cream cakes."

"(18th century) confectioners's shops (were) very often run by Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

s. Consequently ice creams were often called "Italian ice creams" or "Neapolitan ice creams" throughout the 19th century, and the purveying of such confections became associated with Italian immigrants."

"Neapolitan ice cream, different flavoured layers frozen

Freezing

Freezing or solidification is a phase change in which a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. The reverse process is melting....

 together....[was] being first being talked about in the 1870s."

A cultural reference from The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

in 1887:"...in a dress of pink and white stripe

Pattern

A pattern, from the French patron, is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects.These elements repeat in a predictable manner...

s, strongly resembling Neapolitan ice cream."

19th Century descriptions

1885 - "Neapolitan or Pinachee Cream Ice"

"You must have a Neapolitan box for this ice and fill it up in three or four layers with different coloured and flavoured ice creams (a water ice may be used with the custard

Custard

Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...

s); for instance, lemon

Lemon

The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...

, vanilla, chocolate and pistachio

Pistachio

The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia , which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily and possibly Afghanistan , as well as in the United States,...

. Mould in the patent ice cave for about 1½ to 2 hours, turn it out, cut it in slices, and arrange neatly on the dish, on a napkin

Napkin

A napkin, or face towel is a rectangle of cloth used at the table for wiping the mouth while eating. It is usually small and folded...

 or dish-paper."

1894 - "Neapolitan Icey Cones"

"These are prepared by putting ices of various kinds and colors into a mold

Molding (process)

Molding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....

 known as a Neapolitan ice box, which, when set and turned out, is cut into slices suitable for serving. However small the pieces, the block should be cut so that each person gets some of each kind. They are generally laid on a lace

Lace

Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...

 paper on an ice plate. Four or five kinds are usually put in the mold, though three sorts will do. The following will serve as a guide in arranging: First, vanilla cream, then raspberry

Raspberry

The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...

 or cherry

Cherry

The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....

 or currant

Ribes

Ribes is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants native throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae. Seven subgenera are recognized....

 water; coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 or chocolate in the middle; the strawberry cream, with lemon or orange

Orange (fruit)

An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

 or pineapple

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...

 water to finish. A cream ice flavored with any liqueur

Liqueur

A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...

, a brown bread cream flavored with brandy

Brandy

Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...

, with a couple of bright-colored water ices, form another agreeable mixture. Tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

 cream may be introduced into almost any combination unless coffee were used. Banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

 cream, pistachio, or almond

Almond

The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...

 cream with cherry water and damson

Damson

The damson or damson plum is an edible drupaceous fruit, a subspecies of the plum tree. Sometimes called the Damask plum, damsons are commonly used in the preparation of jams and jellies...

 or strawberry water are other options.

The Neapolitan Ice Spoon has a double use; ice bowl is for putting the mixture into the mold, and the handle is for leveling it. The boxes may be made of tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

, which is less expensive than pewter

Pewter

Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...

. They are generally sold small enough to make single ices, but these are much more troublesome to prepare. After filling the molds, if there is no cave, "bed" the ice in the usual way.

Cake

In Australia there is a popular cake known as Neapolitan cake or marble cake

Marble cake

A marble cake is a cake with a streaked or mottled appearance achieved by very lightly blending light and dark batter. It can be a mixture of vanilla and chocolate cake, in which case it is mainly vanilla, with streaks of chocolate.- Further Reading :...

, made with the same three colors of Neapolitan ice cream swirled through in a marble pattern, usually topped with pink icing.