This recipe for berry chantilly cake is a light and tender yellow cake with plenty of fresh berries and a fluffy melt-in-your-mouth frosting. The perfect cake for a celebration!
Chantilly cake is a popular dessert sold at Whole Foods – now you can skip the bakery and make this delicious treat at home for a fraction of the cost.
Easter is almost upon us and I can’t think of a better way to usher in the holiday than this berry chantilly cake. Each year I host Easter at my house and my girls are already so excited! Of course their favorite part is hunting for Easter eggs but I enjoy spending time with the family and of course creating a fabulous holiday meal.
I always make a ham with a variety of side dishes and a showstopping dessert. One of my favorite Easter desserts is this chantilly cake which is a copy cat of a Whole Foods recipe. This cake has four layers of yellow cake, plenty of fresh berries and the fluffiest frosting I’ve ever had that literally melts in your mouth.
How to make chantilly cake
The first step in the process for this recipe is to make the cake layers. This is a fairly standard yellow cake recipe that produces a light and fluffy cake with plenty of flavor.
After you’ve baked your cake layers, you’ll need to slice them in half. I use a cake slicing tool for this, but you can also just use a long serrated knife. The cake layers get brushed with an easy berry syrup made from raspberry jam and then are finished off with frosting and lots of fresh berries.
I am not exaggerating when I say that this is some of the best frosting that I’ve ever tasted. The frosting is made with cream cheese, mascarpone cheese and whipped cream and is delightfully fluffy. Top this chantilly cake with an assortment of fresh berries and you’ve got an Easter dessert that everyone will love!
So tell me, what’s on your Easter menu this year? I’m still working on finalizing my menu but one thing’s for sure, I’m excited to make this berry chantilly cake again to share with my family and friends.
More delicious dessert recipes
- Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
- Fresh Strawberry Pie
- Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes
- Greek Yogurt Cheesecakes
- Lemon Bundt Cake
Berry Chantilly Cake
Ingredients
For the cake layers:
- cooking spray
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 cups Bob's Red Mill Organic Unbleached All Purpose White Flour
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the berry syrup:
- 1/4 cup raspberry jam
- 2 tablespoons water
For the frosting:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
- 2 cups mixed berries plus more for garnish
- Optional garnish: Mint sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Coat 2 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper cut into rounds.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat for about 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
- Add egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla.
- Stir together salt, baking powder, and flour in a large bowl. Pour half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add half of buttermilk, then add the remainder of the flour mixture followed by the remainder of the buttermilk. Do not over mix.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, place the pans on a wire rack and allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes. Then, turn the cakes out on the cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the berry syrup:
- Combine the raspberry jam and water; heat in the microwave for 20 second increments or until melted. Press through a sieve to remove seeds.
- For the frosting:
- With a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl.
- Put the mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, butter and confectioners’ sugar in the mixing bowl and beat until very smooth.
- Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.
- To assemble the cake:
- Split each layer in half so that you have 4 layers. Place the first layer on your serving plate.
- Brush the berry syrup over the cake layer then add a layer of frosting (approximately 1/2 cup).
- Arrange 2/3 cup of berries over the frosting layer; if you're using larger berries such as strawberries, cut them in half first.
- Place the second cake layer on top. Brush the second layer with syrup and repeat the process from the first layer of adding the frosting and berries.
- Add the third layer of cake, brush with syrup, spread with frosting and arrange the remaining berries on top.
- Place the final layer of cake on top. Use the remaining frosting to cover the cake, smoothing the frosting with an offset spatula.
- Arrange additional berries and mint sprigs on top. Cake can be refrigerated for one day. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
This berry chantilly cake recipe is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. This post was originally published on March 14, 2016 and was updated on February 20, 2018.
I’d give this recipe a million stars if I could! My family requests this for every special occasion. We have made this so many times and it never fails! My daughter asked for a strawberry cake and I still turned to this recipe with strawberries as the star. I just blended some freeze dried berries to add the pink and flavor along with some diced berries in the batter. We’ll use strawberry jam for the syrup. I am planning on trying an orange version with amaretto orange jam at some point too! Thank you for bringing so much joy to my family by sharing this recipe!
Can you make the cake ahead of time?
Yes you can make it a day in advance!
I guess this review is more for the Chantilly cream frosting. Although I usually make my cakes from scratch I decided to cheat and use a boxed white cake mix. I had odd size oval pans, and the mix made three fairly short cakes. I think I over frosted between the layers, this sucker is gigantic! It looks phenomenal, and the bit of frosting that I snuck out of the mixing bowl was delicious. I will definitely keep this recipe, and I will try the cake too next time.
I’m nervous about splitting the layers. I’ve never done that before. Can I assemble it as a two layer cake? Is there a downside to that? Thanks!
It’s totally fine to serve just two layers!
I made this for our 4th of July and birthday celebration. Everyone loved it and was impressed that I had made it.
I don’t usually try new recipes on company or when we’re out with friends. It’s just a rule I have. So when my friend asked me on kinda short notice to make a cake for his wife’s birthday dinner, I was between a rock and a hard place. Chantilly Cake is her fave from our local grocery store’s bakery, and she (like myself) loves anything with strawberries. All my recipes were super basic… I read this one and thought it seemed reasonable and safe. Folks, this recipe is off the chain! My friends loved it, and strangers across the restaurant wanted to know where we bought it. *takes a bow* The cake was super moist and flavorful. The frosting was just right–not too sweet, perfectly fluffy, and played nicely with the mixed berries. Everyone oohed and ahhed when the first slice was lifted up because the inside was as pretty as the outside! My only modification was to use a mixed berry jam in the syrup rather than a raspberry jam because it mirrored the actual mix of fresh berries that I used. All you have to do is follow the directions!
Hi I made this for my daughters birthday and it was sooo good! I want to make it again for my sister but with no eggs. Would you be able to tell me what replacement I can use and how much of it? Thank u❤️
Can you refrigerate the cake layers overnight before doing the rest of the cake?
Yes that’s fine!
Can I use 8 inch pans instead? Do I just increase cooking time?
I haven’t tried it this way but I believe it would work!
This type of cake benefits greatly from a simple syrup addition, I used about a cup of sugar, less that of water, and two pints raspberries boiled then sieved. Cool, add some amaretto to taste and sprinkle liberally on each layer..this helps moisten the layers and avoids the dreaded “dry cake” and adds another flavor dimension with the addition of amaretto or maybe Grand Marnier or Spanish orange liqueur Gran Torres. Also, in this recipe I think it’s pretty stingy to expect one fourth cup of raspberry sauce to cover four layers..you might also experiment with more mascarpone and less cream cheese..other than that, a good attempt at this style..
I also meant to say “cooking” spray should be replaced with “baking” spray..as baking spray gives better results. Baking spray is a combination of natural nonstick ingredients and flour, cooking spray is usually just an oil or lecithin.
Do you store in the refrigerator Or leave it out?
You can leave it out for up to 4 hours, refrigerate after that!
Could this be made into cupcakes? How many would this recipe make?
I haven’t tried it this way but I believe other people have tried it with success!
My family loved it! It isn’t overwhelmingly sweet like some other cakes. I didn’t have 9 inch pans so I used my 8 inch pans. Just had to bake them longer and make 3 layers instead of 4. I thought the cake would be a little fluffier, not dense like pound cake. (Maybe I did something wrong haha) But it tasted great and my family liked the density to it. When I make it again, I would definitely add more fruits and a little less sugar since it cuts the sweetness and adds some tartness that I like. Thank you!