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.
What's in this blog post
- Chantilly cake ingredients
- What is a Chantilly cake?
- Chantilly cake instructions
- Berry filling instructions
- Chantilly frosting instructions
- Cake Assembly
- FAQ
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5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
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
- Preheat your oven to 350º F and prepare two 8"cake pans with cake goop or your preferred form of pan release.
- Measure out all your ingredients and make sure they are room temperature or even slightly warm. This allows them to mix together properly.
- Pour 4oz of the milk into a separate measuring cup and add in the oil. Set it aside.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the remaining milk, whisk together to combine and set it aside.
- 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.
- While mixing on low, add in the softened unsalted butter in small pieces to the flour mixture.
- Continue mixing until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
- 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).
- 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.
- Reduce the mixer to low again and slowly pour in the milk/egg mixture. Keep mixing on low until everything is combined.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between your cake pans.
- Bake the cake layers in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out from the center cleanly.
- While the cakes are baking, prepare your berry filling.
- Place the cakes on a cooling rack.
- 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
- Place the berries and sugar into a saucepan on medium heat.
- Cook for 5 minutes or until the berries start to break down.
- Combine the cornstarch and water together and add it to the hot berry mixture.
- Add in the lemon juice.
- Stir constantly until the mixture has thickened.
- 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
- Place the softened butter into the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix until smooth and no lumps remain.
- Add in the softened cream cheese and mix on medium speed until smooth.
- Add in the mascarpone cheese and mix until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar to the mixture and mix until smooth. Set the mixture aside.
- Place the heavy whipping cream into a separate bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment attached.
- Whip on medium speed until firm but soft peaks form. They should hold their shape when you lift the whisk out of the bowl.
- Add in the vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined.
- Fold the whipped cream carefully into the mascarpone mixture with a spatula until smooth. Do not overmix.
Cake Assembly
- 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.
- Place your first cake layer onto your cake board and spread a thin layer of raspberry or berry jam on top.
- 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.
- Repeat process with the other layers of cake, frosting and berries.
- Finish frosting the cake with the rest of the mascarpone frosting and top with more fresh berries.
FAQ
Sometimes a Chantilly cake is referred to as a Gentilly cake. The main difference between a Gentilly cake and a Chantilly is the Gentilly cake typically has buttermilk rather than regular milk in the cake recipe. The frosting usually contains cream cheese and mascarpone frosting.
If you would like to use a buttermilk based cake rather than my vanilla cake, check out my white velvet buttermilk cake recipe.
The history of Chantilly cream is actually pretty interesting if you want to read more about the inventor but I won't bore you with all that here. I fully understand not everyone is a freakish food nerd like I am.
Because this berry Chantilly cake contains fresh fruits and whipped cream, it must be kept refrigerated. The whipped cream is stabilized by the cream cheese so it the frosting is stable for 1-2 days with no problems.
Berry Chantilly cake can be brought to room temperature before eating (1-2 hours) with no problems and actually tastes better when a little warm.
I know this might sound crazy but don't keep this cake in the sun. It will melt.
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
Select an option below to calculate how much batter or frosting you need. Adjust the servings slider on the recipe card to change the amounts the recipe makes.
Choose a pan type
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Cupcake Tin Size
Choose number of pans
Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
Cups of Frosting Needed
5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
Select an option below to calculate how much batter or frosting you need. Adjust the servings slider on the recipe card to change the amounts the recipe makes.
Choose a pan type
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Cupcake Tin Size
Choose number of pans
Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
Cups of Frosting Needed
5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Round Piping Tip and Piping Bag
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake Recipe
- 13 oz bleached cake flour
- 13 oz granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz butter unsalted
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 10 oz whole milk room temperature
- 3 oz vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs room temperature
Chantilly Cream Ingredients
- 16 oz cream cheese softened
- 8 oz unsalted butter softened
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese softened
- 22 oz powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 16 oz heavy whipping cream
Berry Cake Filling
- 2 cups fresh or frozen berries
- 2.5 oz sugar
- 1 oz water
- 1 oz cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Decoration
- 2 cups fresh berries for decoration
Instructions
Vanilla Cake Instructions
- Note: It's VERY important that your cold ingredients are at room temperature or slightly warmed. See video for tips. Heat oven to 350º F/177º C.
- Place 4oz of the milk and oil in a separate bowl or cup and set aside
- Combine remaining milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and room temp eggs in a separate measuring cup and set aside
- Measure out dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and place them into the stand mixer bowl.
- Attach the paddle to the mixer, and turn on the slowest speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers). Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added. Let mix until batter resembles coarse sand.
- Add milk/oil mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed (speed 4 on my KitchenAid) and mix for 2 full minutes. Do not skip this step or your cake will not rise.
- Add in ⅓ of your milk/egg mixture. Repeat 2 more times until batter is just combined. Don't forget to scrape your bowl.
- Divide your cake batter into your cake pans and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes from the center of the cake cleanly.
- Prepare your berry filling while the cakes are baking.
- Remove the cake pan from the oven and "tap" it lightly on the counter once to remove air from the cake and keep it from shrinking un-evenly.
- Place cakes on a cooling rack and let them cool for about 20 minutes. Then flip them out onto a cooling rack.
- Place the cakes in the freezer for one hour to cool down before decorating.
Chantilly Cream Instructions
- Cream together the softened butter, cream cheese and mascarpone cheese together until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar and continue creaming until combined
- Whip the whipped cream to soft peaks. Add in the vanilla and almond extract. Peaks should be firm but not curdled. This happens quickly so watch your cream closely!
- Fold your cream cheese mixture and whipped cream together to make your frosting.
Berry Cake Filling
- Place the berries in a medium saucepan with the sugar and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
- Combine the cornstarch with the cold water to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the bubbling berries. Add in the lemon juice.
- Cook a few minutes until the mixture is thick (1-2 minutes). Remove the berries from the heat.
- Cool berry filling before using.
Video
Notes
Cake flour sources: UK - Shipton Mills Cake & Pastry Flour
Elizabeth says
This is possibly the most delicious cake I've ever made. I was looking specifically for the knock-off Whole Foods Berry Chantilly recipe and this exceeded my expectations. Thank you for the recipe!! I had one very minor issue with the stability of the frosting. It started drooping within a few hours. Environment was indoors with AC on in southern California. I refrigerated it after frosting for a few hours. I was thinking I might add a little shortening to help stabilize it. What are your thoughts on that?
Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you! I'm so glad you liked the recipe. The Chantilly frosting is definitely very soft and has to be chilled after 2 or 3 hours. You could replace some of the butter with shortening to make it a bit more stable, but overall it's going to be very soft.
Marcela says
Thanks for your recipe, videos and tips, your directions are on point. I used a cake mix box for the bread part and seedless strawberry jam just for simplicity, but I followed your recipe and instructions for the frosting and putting the cake together. Unfortunately my pudding mix box was ruined so I couldn't use it to stabilize the whipped cream, nevertheless I didn't have any issues with the frosting, and it's been 2 days since I made it. I did have an initial crumb layer and put the cake on the fridge for an hour before finishing frosting it. The frosting got less liquidy by then (not that it really was runny or anything like that) and the whole cake flavor got even better by the next day. My husband, who isn't big on cakes, like it a lot. Besides, it looks so beautiful! Thanks again! Will be following your videos and recipes!
Tahmina says
I made this cake twice and it was a huge hit both times. Sometimes I dream that I'm eating this cake 🙂
So i want to make it again for my 1 year old nephew's bday, so I'd like to color the frosting for decoration purposes. Do you think that gel color will ruin the delicate frosting?
Thanks so much for this recipe once again!
Elizabeth Marek says
You should be able to color it just fine 🙂 So glad you like it!
Sara says
Hello - the video mentions a berry jam but is that different from the berry filling in the recipe instructions? Also, do I need to have more berries to put on top of the Chantilly cream like the video? My apologies, the recipe and video seem to be a little different and wanted to make sure!
Elizabeth Marek says
No it's not different, and yes use some berries for the top of the cake
Bani says
Thank you so much Liz for this great recipe. It was very delicious. The only difference was the cake itself. The cake in your picture looks like a white cake and sturdy but mine became a very yellow cake and crumbled. But the frosting was amazing.
Elizabeth Marek says
Sounds like something was either not weighed correctly or not mixed quite right. Room temperature ingredients and careful mixing are important for the texture and color of this cake.
Kristina says
I used this recipe to make cupcakes for my daughter's birthday. It was delicious! I hollowed out the cupcakes a bit and filled them with the berries. All components have a good flavor. I no longer live near a Whole Foods and have really missed their Chantilly cake. I will definitely make this again!
Pamela says
Liz you are the best!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe, it was delicious 😋
Ray Winn says
Hello,
What adjustments do I need to make for baking this cake at 5280’ or a mile high. I’m really new to baking but you inspire me to go beyond my abilities!! Thanks
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi! Check out my high altitude baking hacks blog post: https://sugargeekshow.com/news/high-altitude-baking-hacks/
Vaidehi Patel says
Can I use a boxed cake wedding cake recipe you have (Wasc) for this particular cake?
Sugar Geek Show says
Sure thing! I'd recommend using almond extract instead of vanilla though 🙂
Catherine Malec says
I made this cake for my daughter-in-law's birthday. I have used your recipes before and they always turn out to be winners. This won was just as fabulous! The crumb of this cake is so velvety soft and it tastes so good by itself. I really liked the cream frosting, I did have a tad but of trouble with it though, it was a little too wet for me. I was going with simple berry decorations like your example, but would have liked the frosting to be a little firmer. I will give it another try though because the taste was very good. I did read some of your comments later and wish I would have before making the frosting, I will try to replace some of the butter for shortening next time to see if it sets a bit firmer. Thanks for sharing, this cake was already requested by my husband for his birthday and he is hard to impress because he eats a lot of my cake experiments.
Ginger says
This cake is delicious!! I've made it like 4 times these past 6 months and its so good!! I need your opinion please- could I use all raspberries for the jam filling for this cake? Would it still taste as delicious? OR- do you have a wonderful raspberry filling white cake recipe? Any suggestions? Hope to hear from you🙂
Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like the recipe! You definitely can use all raspberries for the filling, I have a recipe here if you'd like: https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/raspberry-filling/ I also have a white cake recipe if you want to try that instead of the vanilla one to switch things up.
Houston Mom says
Amazing recipe!! Flavor was just out of this world. I made extra cream so my kids basically ate it out of the bowl with all the fruit we had at home. The rest was for the cake and it truly was spectacular. Presentation wise and taste wise. Thank you!
Jennifer says
I made this today!!! Was pretty work intensive and my only criticism is that the 45 minute time is a little misleading. I spent 5 hrs in total on this cake with the layers chilling etc. but it turned out amazing!!!!!! I loved it and so did my family!!!! Would be so fun to make this on July 4th! It looks patriotic with all the beautiful berries! 🫐🍓
Krissy says
I love the subtle almond taste of this cake, even better than the whole foods one!! Thank you Liz!!
Swati Ghosh says
This is an amazing recipe!!!!! I use Liz's reverse cream recipe for the cake instead of this one. My family prefers a little less sugar, which I reduce about 1/4 cup each for the frosting and the cake. Both come out amazing. LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Ginger Brown says
Any way you have a pink drip recipe I could use to put on top of frosting?
Sugar Geek Show says
Yes! My favorite is this water ganache recipe with a few drops of electric pink food coloring from Americolor 🙂
Veronica A. says
Hi Liz! I'm going to make this cake and just watched your video and was wondering after you did the crumb coat and refrigerated it...did you also refrigerate the frosting?
Elizabeth Marek says
No I did not
Ellen says
I made this cake a few weeks ago. My friends told me it was the best cake I ever made and I bake a lot and have been for many years. The cream is amazing and I use it for other cakes and desserts! Thank you!
LINDA says
I just made the Chantilly Cream Frosting using less powdered sugar for another cake. I do not like sweet frosting and this was perfect for a lemon cake.
We enjoyed the frosting so much and now I can't wait to make your Berry Chantilly Cake for a friend's birthday.