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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8 cups
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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
Meghan says
question! - I am making this for a wedding. I made the chantilly frosting on Wednesday, the cake is to be served on saturday. If I frost the cake and freeze it and pull it out day of wedding, will it still be okay to eat and taste good?
Elizabeth Marek says
No, a frozen cake needs to be defrosted in the fridge (like a turkey) because it takes a long time to defrost. If you bring it straight out of the freezer it will sweat horribly.
Vin says
I made this with my 10 year old daughter (benefits of lockdown) for my wife’s birthday. It was such a hit, we are going to struggle to top this! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Ali W says
I've made this recipe several times and it is a crowd pleaser.
Mona says
The cake falls from the center, why is this?
Elizabeth Marek says
Perhaps under-baked or under-mixed.
Alexa says
Hi!
I plan on making this cake for Fathers Day this weekend. However, I don’t own a Kitchen Aid, would a hand mixer work fine for mixing the cake batter? I’m worried about the reverse creaming/whipping enough air into the batter.
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes, you can definitely use a hand-mixer! I would mix for a little longer, maybe 3 minutes just because you want to make sure you get it all mixed well
Becky says
Oh boy. So, I made this cake for my mother's birthday today. All was going well, until assembly time. The cake was so delicate that it split upon moving it. Then, all the layers collapsed under the light weight of a crumb coat and filling. Initially, I thought the cakes were too hot, but I had waited 2 hours before handling. The only thing I changed was using almond emulsion vs extract (which I highly recommend). Perhaps my oven was too cold, since I had to open to door more than once to check for doneness, or my kitchen was too humid from the summer heat? In an attempt to salvage this, it's become a birthday trifle. The "cake" is absolutely delicious, despite having some personal technical difficulties. It's enough for me to try this again. #BeginnerBakerWoes
Elizabeth Marek says
The cakes need to be chilled before you start stacking them. You can learn more about how to stack and fill cakes in this tutorial https://sugargeekshow.com/news/how-to-make-a-cake/
Summer says
Amazing recipe, I tried it and turned out perfect!! I was wondering, where did you get your cake stand the gold and marble one in the video?
Elizabeth Marek says
I got it at Home Goods
Penny C. says
Just made this and it is delicious!! Thanks for the easy to follow directions and the added video.
Julie says
Hello!
I am planning to make this cake but the pans I have are 8 inch by 1 1/2 inch tall. Planning to makes 3 layers. And a total of 2 cakes. Should I edit the number of cups to 24. Are my calculations correct?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes that sounds right to me 🙂
Julie says
Thank you! Can’t wait!!
Breanna says
Hi Liz,
I’m going out on a limb here. My boyfriend’s birthday is in a couple weeks and I’m thinking of baking this cake. However, I was curious if it was possible to make it a surprise tie dye cake and placing an edible paper image on top instead of fruit.
Do you think this is doable or too risky?
Elizabeth Marek says
I think if you put the image on top at the last minute it would be ok!
Donna Walden says
Also, can this frosting be piped, or is it too loose?
Elizabeth Marek says
Simple piping could be done for sure 🙂
Kathy Sartini says
I made this recipe and it was delicious. My husband liked it better than the Whole Foods one.
Rose says
Made this for the first time for 4th of July. It was a big hit! Everyone loved how moist it was and the frosting is amazing! My sister in law even requested it for a birthday cake.
I do have a question though. If I want to make this ahead of time, is it ok to bake the cake layers and wrap it to leave it in the fridge overnight? On the recipe, you said not to leave it in longer than necessary but on the cake recipe page, you said it could be left overnight. I want to make sure the cake is still moist.
Elizabeth Marek says
Don't refrigerate them overnight. Just leave them on the counter. Put them in the freezer for 30 minutes before stacking so they are easier to handle.
Amanda says
I’m not sure what went wrong but my frosting was too loose. I continued with it and Placed it in the fridge. It firmed up enough for me to lace it. I used my almond cake recipe and IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!
SuMcK says
Hi! I saw your directions called for jam on the first layer. Is it on every layer or just the first?
Elizabeth Marek says
Its on every layer
Lyn says
Hi Liz,
I followed your recipe to the T. However, after taking the cakes out of the oven and letting it cool for the specified amount of time, I turned the cakes over to get them out of the pan but it stuck to the bottom of the pans and of course crumbled. I did grease this pan very well with unsalted butter. is there something else I should have done? Do you have any idea why the cakes stuck to the bottom of the pan? It did not say on your instructions to dust it with flour after greasing it, which is what I've done with other cakes before. Please let me know what your thoughts are. I was making this for a birthday tomorrow and now I'm not sure if it'll work out. I put the cake in the freezer to hopefully firm them up before trying to frost them since they crumbled.
Elizabeth Marek says
I use cake goop to grease my pans (check my blog for the recipe) not unsalted butter.
Shea says
I made this for my grandmas birthday. She LOVED it! It was super easy to make and it turned out perfect. The only thing I would have changed was less almond extract. I had cut it down already but I felt it was a bit much. Overall, I would 100% recommend this recipe
Julia says
Hi Liz. You refer to different ways to stabilize whipped cream. Is it ok to use any of those methods for frosting for this cake? I really like gelatin option over pudding mix, but not sure if I’ll be able to frost the cake in time while it’s still spreadable? Especially if the cake needs to be chilled before final layer of frosting... Thanks! This recipe looks really promising!!!
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can, I used stabilized whipped cream to frost my pink velvet cake 🙂
teeY says
Help! I made the first part of the cream cheese frosting and was missing 4 oz of mascarpone cheese and now it's super sweet. Could I cut some of it out when mixing with the whipped cream to even out the taste? or do I need to get the remaining 4 oz of mascarpone cheese? Thank youuuu!
Elizabeth Marek says
Can you add in more cream cheese?
Rachel says
Very excited to try this recipe! It looks irresistible!! I only have 1.5in tall pans. Do you think it will spill over if I use my 8" pans? Or should I use my 9" pans?
Elizabeth Marek says
I would use the 9" pans
Carolind says
My new favorite cake!!! The cake was so delicious and not dense at all! The frosting and berry filling were also amazing, and my family loved it!
Trish says
I would like to make as much as possible ahead of time, if I make the cakes ahead of time and freeze them, should I defrost them on the counter or in the fridge?
Sugar Geek Show says
I usually don't defrost them, I decorate the cakes right after taking them out of the freezer. Then I do a crumb coat, chill in the fridge, finish decorating and refrigerate until needed. I like to take the cake out a few hours before serving and leave it on the countertop so it comes to room temperature to eat.
Endee says
I made this today and was surprised by how easy it was over all. Thank you for an easy to follow recipe. Everyone was super pleased!
Savi says
Made this cake today and boy oh boy.... DELICIOUS!!! Lovely moist cake 🍰. I had a quick question Liz. I didn't make the 4 layer. Instead made just 3 so I have some chantilly frosting left over. Do you think it can be frozen? Thanks so much in advance 😊
Sugar Geek Show says
Yay so glad you liked the cake! You can freeze the frosting for up to 6 months or refrigerate it for 2 weeks 🙂