Berry Chantilly Cake

This berry chantilly cake recipe is made with moist vanilla cake, fresh fruit, and layered with a luscious chantilly cream frosting made of lightly sweetened whipped cream and mascarpone filling. This cake is not too sweet and is the perfect refreshing dessert for weddings, birthdays, bridal showers, or any special occasion that needs a dessert everyone will love.

The first time I tasted a berry chantilly cake, it was from Whole Foods Market which has actually trademarked the name "berry chantilly cake" because of it's popularity. I can see why. After my first bite, I was hooked. The layer cake is so light. The chantilly cream is not too sweet and the seasonal berries are so delicious! I had to try recreating it at home.

Chantilly cake ingredients

• Cake Flour - This is the best option for the most delicate and delicious cake crumb. You can make your own cake flour using all purpose flour and cornstarch but the texture will be a bit more like cornbread. You can find cake flour in most grocery stores.
• Cream Cheese - Make sure this is cut into small cubes and either microwaved for 15 minutes to soften it or left out room temperature while you bake your cake layers. Cold cream cheese is very hard to make into frosting without having lumps. 
• Mascarpone cheese - Similar to cream cheese but less tangy. Slightly sweet and incredibly creamy. This will make the texture of your Chantilly cream extra extra creamy.
• Heavy whipping cream - This is the basis for your Chantilly cream. Sometimes referred to as double cream or whipping cream. Half and half will not whip up due to its low fat content.
• Berries - You'll need some berries for the berry filling as well as for adding in between the layers and the top of the cake.

What is a Chantilly cake?

Sweetened whipped cream frosting is sometimes referred to as “Chantilly cream,” which came from its place of origination, Hameau de Chantilly (English translation: “hamlet of Chantilly” or settlement within the town of Chantilly). This was thought to originate around the 1800s.

Chantilly frosting is just heavy whipping cream that has been sweetened and vanilla extract added but my version I also add in mascarpone cheese and cream cheese frosting for texture and flavor which is very similar to the Whole Foods berry chantilly cake recipe. 

So I guess my Berry Chantilly Cake version is a cross between a classic Chantilly cake and a Gentilly cake because I like the fluffy vanilla cake with berries but prefer the cream cheese/mascarpone frosting over basic whipped cream. 

But this is where it gets weird.

On our last trip to Hawaii, we made a stop at the famous Ted's Bakery and had a slice of their famous Chantilly cake. Guess what the flavor was? Chocolate cake frosted with a rich kind of frosting that was similar to coconut pecan frosting but without the coconuts and pecans. So Chantilly cake can also be Chocolate cake depending on who you ask. 

Chantilly cake instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350º F and prepare two 8"cake pans with cake goop or your preferred form of pan release.
2. Measure out all your ingredients and make sure they are room temperature or even slightly warm. This allows them to mix together properly. 
3. Pour 4oz of the milk into a separate measuring cup and add in the oil. Set it aside.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla to the remaining milk, whisk together to combine and set it aside.
5. Place the dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached.
6. While mixing on low, add in the softened unsalted butter in small pieces to the flour mixture.
7. Continue mixing until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
8. Add the oil/milk mixture to the sandy mixture and increase the speed to medium (speed 3 on a kitchenaid, speed 2 on a bosch). 
9. Mix on medium speed for two full minutes. Don't worry, this won't overmix your batter. It's an important step to developing the cakes delicate and tender crumb.
10. Reduce the mixer to low again and slowly pour in the milk/egg mixture. Keep mixing on low until everything is combined. 
11. Divide the cake batter evenly between your cake pans.
12. Bake the cake layers in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out from the center cleanly.
13. While the cakes are baking, prepare your berry filling.
14. Place the cakes on a cooling rack.
15. After the cakes have cooled for about 20 minutes or the pans are cool enough to touch, flip the cakes over and remove the cakes from the pans onto the wire rack to cool. Place the cake layers into the freezer for about an hour before frosting.

Berry filling instructions

1. Place the berries and sugar into a saucepan on medium heat.
2. Cook for 5 minutes or until the berries start to break down.
3. Combine the cornstarch and water together and add it to the hot berry mixture.
4. Add in the lemon juice.
5. Stir constantly until the mixture has thickened.
6. Remove the berry filling from the heat, transfer it to a heat proof container, and place it into the fridge to cool down.

Chantilly frosting instructions

1. Place the softened butter into the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix until smooth and no lumps remain.
2. Add in the softened cream cheese and mix on medium speed until smooth.
3. Add in the mascarpone cheese and mix until smooth.
4. Add in the powdered sugar to the mixture and mix until smooth. Set the mixture aside.
5. Place the heavy whipping cream into a separate bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment attached. 
6. Whip on medium speed until firm but soft peaks form. They should hold their shape when you lift the whisk out of the bowl. 
7. Add in the vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined.
8. Fold the whipped cream carefully into the mascarpone mixture with a spatula until smooth. Do not overmix.

Cake Assembly

1. Trim the domes off your cooled vanilla cake layers to make them flat and if desired, you can trim off the brown edges and bottom of the cake as well.
2. Place your first cake layer onto your cake board and spread a thin layer of raspberry or berry jam on top.
3. Now spread a nice thick layer of your chantilly frosting and layer in some fresh berries. I don't slice them so that they don't drip into my frosting unless the strawberries are really big then I slice them in half. 
4. Repeat process with the other layers of cake, frosting and berries. 
5. Finish frosting the cake with the rest of the mascarpone frosting and top with more fresh berries. 

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