Berry Chantilly Cake
Homemade yellow cake layered with fluffy cream cheese whipped cream frosting and fresh berries.
Once July hits Arizona, it is a mass exodus out of town. You will see your neighbors on the beach in California because no one wants to hang out in 116-degree weather. We end up on vacation every single year on my daughter's birthday which means she rarely gets a homemade cake.
I believe EVERYONE needs to blow out a candle on their birthday. It's as if a birthday isn't complete without a poorly sung rendition of "Happy Birthday," a few lit candles, and a birthday wish. It's just tradition.
So every year we have to buy a birthday cake for her on the road. We discovered her most beloved cake of all time at Whole Foods. It's their Berry Chantilly Cake and you better believe I have asked the bakery chefs in California, Texas, and even Arizona how they make it.
After some research, a lot of questions, and studying the label, I went to work in the kitchen to create the Berry Chantilly Cream Cake. This is a simplified version of what they make at Whole Foods. It's now the cake that BOTH of my girls request for their birthdays but I can make it at home!
So what makes this Berry Chantilly Cream Cake so special?
Let's start with the cake. It's the base of the cake so it has to be GOOD. I spent weeks testing out yellow cake recipes and came up with this gem -- Yellow Birthday Cake which takes on some creative methods. It's such a soft, tender, fluffy, and moist cake.
The frosting is when it gets REAL. This isn't some overly sweet, stick to your mouth kind of frosting. This is light, fluffy with the perfect amount of sweetness.
It's a chantilly whipped cream frosting using heavy cream, which is whipped into soft peaks and folded into a sweetened cream cheese and pure vanilla. It is HEAVENLY! My kids fight over who is going to lick the bowl.
Warning: you can eat A LOT of this frosting without even batting an eye.
The cake layers are covered with a thin layer of raspberry jam which not only gives it a sweet fruity flavor but gives moisture to the layers. The cake is covered with the chantilly cream and fresh berries. Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, and Blueberries line the layers. Then the Berry Chantilly Cream Cake is topped with all the fresh fruit.
A FEW TIPS TO MAKE THE PERFECT BERRY CHANTILLY CREAM CAKE:
- Don't overbake your cake. Keep a close eye on the layers. If you are baking two layers, then you will need to cook the cakes longer as they are thicker. If you are baking three layers, you will need to cook the layers for less time. Keep a cake tester or toothpick close by and check the middle of the cakes.
- When making the chantilly cream frosting, cream the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a separate bowl. It is important to cream it long enough that it becomes silky smooth -- about 4-5 minutes. After it is creamed, it can be gently folded in with the whipped cream.
- Use heavy cream and whip until it forms firm peaks. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla until incorporated.
- This frosting can benefit from being chilled for about 15 minutes before frosting the cake.
- Always do a light "crumb coat" of frosting on the cake which means to do a light layer of frosting to cover the crumbs and then add the majority of frosting. I am a huge fan of an offset spatula. They don't cost very much but makes it so much easier to frost a cake. Here is one of my favorites -- Wilton Angled Icing Spatula.
- 4 Large Eggs
- 2/3 cup Whole Milk or Buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Butter softened, cut into cubes
- 2 Tablespoons Oil
- 1/3 cup Vanilla Pudding Mix instant
- 1/4 cup Raspberry or Strawberry Jam
- 2 cups Heavy Cream
- (2) 8-ounce pkgs. Cream Cheese or Mascarpone Cheese softened
- 2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract Vanilla Beans, or Vanilla Bean Paste
- (1) 16-ounce pkg. Strawberries sliced
- (1) 6-ounce pkg. Raspberries
- (1) 6-ounce pkg. Blackberries
- (1) 6-ounce pkg. Blueberries
- **may add more berries if desired.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- In a standing mixer, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat the butter into the flour mixture, one cube at at time. Continue to beat until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the 1/2 of the egg milk mixture and oil and beat the batter is light and fluffy. Add remaining egg milk mixture and vanilla pudding and mix just until combined.
- Take a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Spread into greased pans and smooth tops with spatula. May use two or three cake pans (I use three 8 inch cake pans).
- Bake for 16-22 minutes, depending on depth of pans. If the cake layers are thin, they will cook for less time than the thicker layers.
- Let cakes cool. Run knife around edge of cake pan and flip over.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip heavy cream until firm peaks form. Set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, whip cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla for at least 5 minutes or until creamy and silky smooth. Gently fold in whipped cream until incorporated. Cover and put in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Spread a thin layer of jam over each layer.
- Spread chantilly cream over each layer.
- Top each layers with a sprinkling of fresh fruit.
- Using offset spatula, frost entire cake with chantilly cream.
- Top with remaining fresh fruit.
- Place the cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
I can't wait to hear what you think of this Berry Chantilly Cream Cake! PIN this image below and share with friends. Have a wonderful day and happy baking! xo
What brand of jam do you like to use?
Hi Aubrey! That is a great questions because I have tested a lot of jam in my days! 🙂 I love Bonne Maman jams because they are made in small batches and focus on the fruit. I actually used a raspberry jam from Costco and it was good for the price.
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much! Did the jam have seeds? Thank you for sharing ALL your yummy recipes. I am infatuated with your blog. It's so fun to see someone who loves food as much as me. Thank you! Thank you!
I will agree 100% to this cake's yumminess!! I teach school where Melissa's kids attend. Her youngest daughter brought in a slice to her teacher...who so happens to teach 3rd grade with me. Mrs. M. shared a few bites me and my teammates at lunch. We were all blown away. One word...YUM!!! 🎂
Awww Lori....so sweet of you to say! You just made my day! I am so glad you had a few bites but I should have sent more! Next time, I am bringing enough treats for everyone. I am so appreciative of all of the wonderful teachers and all you do for our kiddos. Thank you so much, Lori! 🙂 - Melissa
Lori, I think you taught my Emersyn in first grade. Too funny that we be the follow the same food blog! Hope you are well.😘❤️
This is not just Berry Chantilly Cream Cake. This is "the Awesome Berry Chantilly Cream Cake"
I can't believe I found this recipe. My birthday is in a few days and I was going to order this from Whole Foods. Think I will try your recipe instead. Can you give any advice on how to adjust for high altitude? Thank you so much.
Do you make the instant pudding or just use the pudding mix from the box? I'm a bit confused because per the instructions, in line 5, you say 'vanilla pudding.' Thanks!
Suzanne, just use the mix from the box. Don't stir it up with the milk like the box says.
Hello. May I know how minutes baking time for 2 9-inch round pans? Thanks!
I’ve tried this cake recipe several times and my cakes come out flat. The frosting is delicious.
This cake is so amazing that this morning I made it for the 3rd time in 9 days! The 1st was for my daughter's birthday, the 2nd was the day after, since she took leftovers home with her. And today I made it and gave 1/2 to a friend so I wouldn't end up eating the whole thing myself. The icing has to be the best ever! Had a bit leftover and wondered what it would be like if it was chocolate and added some cocoa powder and was so hard to not just grab a spoon and eat it all with extra raspberries I had left. This could very well be the only cake my family asks for from now on. Thanks so much for such a great recipe!
the icing really was delicious but i found the cake VERY dense. We were all adding huge dollops of icing onto our cake after since the frosting was delicious and the cake a bit thick. used frozen thawed fruit and wished i had fresh as that’s always better.
Making this today(Not quite finished yet so i haven’t had a piece)! The frosting is delicious! I’m almost surprise any of the frosting made it ontonthe cake at all! I wasn’t sure what kind of jam to use so I just mashed and boiled some strawberries and used that. Have you ever considered baking some of your recipes on you tube so we can see exactly how you do things?! I think i would watch your channel non stop! This is my third cake recipe of yours I’ve tried and I love them all!
I LOVE this recipe. I have made it so many times and every time I do, ppl love it!!! I have made a tweak to take the pressure off myself though.....
I make it into a trifle. Whether in little mason jars or a big trifle dish, just cube the cooled cake and layer. I add a little water, jam and lemon juice to the cut up fruit to make a yummy juice to soak up in the cake.
It's always a hit...THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE 🙂
Hi,
Just wondering if you used cake flour for this? I think I did it with regular flour last time and thinking that’s why it came out a little heavier.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! After trying the Whole Foods version, I googled the cake name and am so happy I found your recipe! I’ve made it twice now and LOVE it! It’s delicious, especially how the raspberry jam complements the berries and cake. The yellow cake is the best I’ve ever tasted.
I just made this for my daughter’s birthday party and everyone loved it! The yellow cake recipe was perfect! I followed the recipe exactly as written and it was just great! Thank you for this recipe!
Greetings from Tucson! This was an extraordinarily delicious cake! Thank you so much for sharing. I used a different yellow cake recipe from Sallysbakingaddiction (no pudding mix on hand), which worked perfectly when I substituted a 1/4 c veg oil for a 1/2 c of the butter. I knew the cake would be served refrigerated and was concerned an all butter cake might be dry at colder than room temp. For the frosting, I used 8 oz of mascarpone and 8 oz cream cheese combined with Rose Levy Berenbaum's stabilized whipped cream (homogonized with a little butter) in order to keep the frosting fluffy over a few days. Next time I will use slightly more jam-1/8 of an inch thickness will be just to my taste. A truly wonderful recipe! You made my birthday cake delightfully memorable!
Lovely recipe! Yummy!
I love love love this recipe! I've made this a handful of times over the past year, and it's so delicious! Definitely my fave cake recipe. Thanks Melissa!
Can you make this recipe in a 13 X 9 sheet pan? How would I modify?
Is it normal for the cake batter to be so thick and heavy? I followed everything step by step I just want to make sure I didnt do something wrong.
I just finished making this cake. Not quite sure how I feel but I will taste it tomorrow and let you know.
Hello,
I made this cake following your recipe. Everyone loved it. I had mixed feelings as the cake and the frosting was too sweet for my palate and it was hard to eat more than a few bites at a time. I might reduce the sugar in both the cake and the frosting and it will be perfect for me. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
Another outstanding recipe! We (my daughter & I) are making this cake for the second time today. One of the best cake frostings we've ever made. This cake got rave reviews from our family and friends. The cake texture is outstanding and the frosting is the lightest, dreamiest consistency ever. Adding the fruit and jam gives the cake that additional WOW factor. Amazing as ever. Thank you for all you do!