Berry Chantilly cake is made with tender vanilla cake layered fresh mixed berries and frosted with a luscious mascarpone whipped topping.
The first time I tasted a berry Chantilly cake, it was from Whole Foods. I was hooked. I needed to know more about this delicious vanilla cake layered with fresh berry cake filling and a light and creamy mascarpone cream cheese frosting!
Apparently, I'm not the only one. The people who love Whole Foods Berry Chantilly cake are practically zealots, and I don't really blame them.
What is a Chantilly cake?
So to me, a Chantilly cake is a vanilla cake decorated with fresh berries and a sweetened whipped cream (Chantilly cream).
But 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.
What's the difference between a Chantilly Cake and a Gentilly Cake?
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.
What is Chantilly cream?
So here's where it gets even more confusing. Chantilly cream is literally just whipped cream that has been sweetened and vanilla extract added. The name Chantilly actually comes from the place it was supposedly invented, Château de Chantilly in France.
I prefer the taste of the Chantilly cream made with mascarpone cheese and cream cheese. I use stabilized whipped cream in the recipe as well.
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.
How do you make a Berry Chantilly Cake?
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.
Are you drooling yet?
Does Chantilly cake need to be refrigerated
Because this berry Chantilly cake contains fresh fruits and whipped cream, it must be kept refrigerated. The whipped cream is stabilized by the vanilla pudding mix though 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.
Watch my berry chantilly cake video below if you're a visual learner like me and need to see how it all comes together!
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
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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
- 16 oz mascarpone cheese softened
- 22 oz powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 oz heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoon instant pudding mix Or any other whipped cream stabilizer. See my post: https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/stabilized-whipped-cream/
Berry Cake Filling
- 2 cups fresh or frozen berries
- 2.5 oz sugar
- 1 oz water
- 1 oz cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
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 335º F/168º C — 350º F/177º C. I tend to use lower setting to prevent my cakes from getting too dark on the outside before the inside is done baking.
- 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.
- I always start by baking for 25 minutes for 8" and smaller cakes and 30 minutes for 9" and larger cakes and then checking for doneness. If the cakes are still really jiggly, I add another 5 minutes. I check every 5 minutes after that until I'm close and then it's every 2 minutes. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.
- 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 press down the dome immediately with an oven mitt covered hand. After cakes have cooled for 10 minutes or the pans are cool enough to touch, flip the cakes over and remove from the pans onto the cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.
- Once the cakes are chilled in the refrigerator (about an hour for this size, longer for larger cakes), tort, fill and crumb coat all at once. If you do not plan on crumb coating the same day, you can leave the wrapped cakes on the countertop. Chilling can dry out your cakes before they are iced, so avoid keeping them in the refrigerator longer than necessary. Cakes can be frozen in freezer bags for later use as well.
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 pudding mix to stabilize the whipped cream and whip until just combined. Add in the vanilla and almond extract. Peaks should be firm but not curdled. This happens quickly so watch your cream closely! Check out the stabilized whipped cream recipe to see other options to use besides instant pudding mix.
- Fold your cream cheese mixture and whipped cream together to make your frosting.
Berry Cake Filling
- Place the berries in a medium saucepan with 2.5 oz of sugar and bring to a simmer.
- Combine the cornstarch with the cold water to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the bubbling berries.
- Cook a few minutes until the mixture is thick (1-2 minutes). Remove the berries from the heat and stir in the zest of one lemon and your lemon juice.
- Cool berry filling before using.
Video
Notes
Cake flour sources: UK - Shipton Mills Cake & Pastry Flour
Pa says
Hi do we need to use bleached cake flour or can we use regular cake flour?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Bleached is best if you can find it in your area 🙂 It has the lowest protein content which results in the softest cake
Kat says
Hi! I want to try out this cake recipe and it calls for almond extract however I can't seem to find where I'm supposed to add in the almond extract in the recipe. If you could help with this, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Almond goes in with the vanilla, it's usually found in the spice aisle with all the other extracts 🙂
Leslie says
I'd like to make a small cake, one layer. can you just cut everything in half?
The Sugar Geek Show says
You sure can 🙂
Riley says
Hello,
I love the Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake, so I was thrilled to see a recipe for it! Simply based on taste, it seems to me like the Whole Foods version has a hefty almond component perhaps in the cake, the frosting, or both. I also feel like the cake itself has been moistened or soaked in something (a form of diluted almond extract? maybe?) almost tres leches style.
I guess my question is, does this cake replicate both the prominent almond flavor and somewhat soaked texture of the WF cake? It might just be the Chantilly cream layers that give it that super moist texture. Also, do you have any idea where that almond flavor is coming from? I notice that you include some almond extract in your frosting, but how forwards is the almond in this Chantilly frosting? Would subbing in some almond flour or soaking the cake in maybe a condensed milk/almond extract mixture be a viable option?
Thank you so much!
The Sugar Geek Show says
I got this recipe from someone who worked at Whole Foods so I feel pretty confident about the taste 🙂 The almond flavor is in the frosting and the cake. As far as moisture goes, its most likely from the filling which is very moist.
Abigail G. says
I’ve made this cake 3 times using Cup4Cup gluten free flour and it’s outstanding! Love love love this cake. Minor changes to the process, I don’t tap the cake In the pan after I take it out of the oven, it fell.
The taste of this cake is amazing, the frosting is so delicious, it’s hard to resist having a spoonful while frosting the cake.
Thank you so so much Liz for sharing your work!!
The Sugar Geek Show says
That makes sense to omit that step with the gluten free flour since there wouldn't be as much structure developed. I'm so glad this recipe is working for you 🙂
Guadalupe Quaranta says
Hi Liz! Big fan of your desserts, thank you for sharing your skills! I made this recipe and the lemon blueberry cake as well, but I feel my cakes were a little dry after being two days in the fridge.
Can I make a light syrup and soak it a little bit in my cakes to prevent dryness? Thanks in advance!!!
The Sugar Geek Show says
The fridge is always going to dry out your cake. The cake is best served at room temperature so that the cake tastes fresher. Just like cold butter tastes dry and crumbly, soft (room temperature) butter tastes better. So you should slice your cake and let it sit at room temperature until its soft again before eating it. Syrup will not make a dry/cold cake taste any moister
Nikia Shahid Ullah says
I want to make berry chantilly cake and your recipe is interesting thank you and I never tried berry chantilly cake
Kate Lajeras says
Hello I haven't tried this recipe, But I love Berry Chantilly Cake from Wholefoods they are the best, It is so moist, how can I make this cake moist using your recipe would like to try this recipe so bad. Do I add or removes some recipe please help thank you
The Sugar Geek Show says
perhaps try the recipe to see if it's moist enough for you before asking how to make it more moist 🙂
Skyler Wright says
What can I do to convert this to a chocolate, berry Chantilly cake?
Thanks in advance!
The Sugar Geek Show says
I would replace the white cake with chocolate cake 🙂
Vicki says
Can this cake be covered in fondant? Or will the filling cause bulging?
Elizabeth Marek says
I would not cover this frosting in fondant, I think it would melt the fondant
Susan says
Hi Liz! I want to try this recipe but cannot find bleached cake flour, can I sub with beached all purpose flour instead?
Elizabeth Marek says
Most cake flour is bleached so if you can find cake flour, that is what you should use. All-purpose flour cannot be used in place of cake flour for this recipe but you can replace the cake recipe with my white cake recipe which uses All-purpose flour. https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/white-cake-recipe/
Summer says
Hi Liz, thanks so much for this recipe. How can I adapt this recipe to make a 6” cake? In terms of amounts of ingredients and cooking time and temperature.
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can adjust the servings on the recipe card and it will adjust the ingredients for you. 🙂
Whitney says
Hi! Can I make the berry filling ahead of time and refrigerate for a few days then bring to room temp to apply to cake?
Elizabeth Marek says
I wouldn't make it more than 48 hours in advance, berries don't last very long.
Jess Cromwell says
Hi! I plan to make this but my brother is allergic to almonds if they are not cooked. As far as the extract in the frosting goes, could I replace it with the vanilla extract?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can leave out the almond extract and replace it with vanilla
Lauren says
Hi I am really interested in making this cake for Mother's Day but I only have 9in cake pans, how should I cook them then?
Elizabeth Marek says
You can bake the batter in 9" pans, the layers will just be a little thinner.
Susan says
Hi Liz,
This is a silly question but preciously you mention adjusting the serving size on the recipe card to adjust the ingredients. I would like to do that but am not sure where the recipe card is?
Elizabeth Marek says
the recipe card is at the bottom of the blog post, right above the comments
Shells says
I need your cake stand/turntable! So pretty!
jessica says
hello is this cake dense enough to make as a two tier cake 10 inch and 8 inch cake, with the proper support ? thank you
Elizabeth Marek says
I think it would be ok if supported well and chilled well
Ridona Carson (first name sounds like MaDonna’s name) says
I’ve never heard of these before. I love red velvet, am excited to make them. I have two questions? What makes the cake so red and velvety? I cannot seem to get the cake so red. I have tried extra food coloring but that of course just makes it more pink. I know I’m doing something wrong?
Why do some cakes taste like play dough. Yuck 🤢!!
Elizabeth Marek says
The red color comes from a little super red food coloring and cocoa powder which gives it the rich, dark red color. The velvet texture comes from the buttermilk
Kiki says
Your comment about using gelatin instead of instant pudding mix - 1 tsp of gelatin mixed in 1 tablespoon heavy cream, do we need need to mix the gelatin with water first? Thanks for clarifying!
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes, I dissolve the gelatin in 1 Tablespoon of water and then add 1/2 tsp of heavy cream to help it mix into the whipped cream easier.
Lindsay says
Hi, so this is going to be my first cake - I’m making it for my son’s 1st birthday. Side note, both my 1 and almost 3 year old are IVF babies too - fun times, but we made it!
Anyway, I am making the vanilla cake with the berry mascarpone filling, the stabilized whipped cream as the icing and I may attempt a chocolate drip. I want to start today - his birthday is tomorrow. WHAT CAN I PREP AHEAD OF TIME!? WHAT CAN GO IN THE FRIDGE AND FOR HOW LONG!?! I’m known in my fam for biting off more than I can chew (but I always get it done). We’re all together in the same house quarantining, so they’re going to watch the whole messy process. Help!
Elizabeth Marek says
You can do all of it today and serve it tomorrow 🙂 Use the freezer to chill the cakes, chill the crumb coat etc and speed things up. Here is a video on how to make your first cake as a guide. Also, congratulations!! I can relate to that long journey as well. My guy just turned 8 months old <3 https://sugargeekshow.com/news/how-to-make-a-cake/
Hannah says
Excited to make this cake! Could I use pastry flour in place of the bleached cake flour to a similar effect?
Elizabeth Marek says
It might not be quite as tender but should be ok.
Daisy says
Hi Liz!
Once we mix in the oil and milk at speed 4, do we lower the speed to mix the rest of the wet ingredients? (Eggs, extracts, rest of milk)
Don't want to over mix and ruin the consistency and texture of the cake by leaving it at speed 4 if I'm not supposed to 🙂
Thanks so much!
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes, reduce the speed to low, more because it will make a mess if you don't haha
Vanessa says
Do you grease the pans for this cake?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yep, with cake goop https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/cake-goop-recipe/
Anna Starnes says
How far in advance can I make the berry filling??
Elizabeth Marek says
A few days unless you want to freeze it and defrost it again before you use it