My lovely sister, Melanie, was home for about two weeks over 4th of July week (weird how it wasn’t week-end). We also got to celebrate her birthday too, which she apparently hadn’t celebrated at home for about 6 years. Since I went to boarding school and then to college, I know exactly how that feels, it I knew it was special that she got to finally celebrate at home with her family. Since I almost always bake something when I go to my grandmother’s house and it was also Mel’s b-day, I thought this would be the perfect time to bake a cake.
There is no comparison to the Whole Foods Chantilly cake. It is simply fantastic. Sold by the heavenly slice, this cake is exceptionally moist and has the most incredible frosting. So naturally, my instinct was to try and make it myself. And I must say, it came out pretty darn good. The cake wasn’t as moist, but I’ll probably play around with that recipe a bit more before it’s perfected. The Chantilly cream frosting, however ,was sensational. I mean, anything with both cream cheese, whipped cream, AND mascarpone has got to be amazing (which it was).
…..I also admit I was being a bit lazy when I took these pics, and thus I really don’t think they do the cake justice. It was delicious and I definitely will be making it again. Maybe I’ll have a DSLR camera and I’ll finally get accepted onto foodgawker….(yeah right) but a nerd can dream, right?
Click here for the updated recipe:
Copycat Whole Foods Chantilly Cake 2.0
- Yellow cake recipe
- Macerated strawberry/raspberry puree
- Apricot fruit glaze (or just thinned and microwaved apricot jam)
- strawberries
- blackberries
- raspberries
- blueberries
- strawberries
- Chantilly Frosting
- 8 oz container cream cheese, room temp
- 8 oz container mascarpone cream cheese, room temp
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Berry Sauce
- Blend together strawberries and raspberries (or just raspberries. I didn't have enough so put strawberries in there too). In a small sauce pan over medium low heat, add the berry puree and ¼ cup of sugar. Let this sit for about 5 or so minutes until you think the sugar has disolved into the puree.
- Whip the cream cheese, mascarpone and confectioners sugar together until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, whip together the heavy whipping cream and almond extract until stiff peaks form. Make sure not to over mix because it will become grainy and change the texture and appearance of your frosting.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated.
- Assembly
- Spread a layer of the berry sauce on on top of the first layer of cake.
- Pipe or spread a thick layer of icing on top of the berry sauce.
- Evenly distribute sliced berries on top of the icing layer.
- Place the second layer of cake on top.
- Ice the rest of the cake and garnish with fresh berries.
- Glaze the berries and refrigerate until serving.
Lovely! I made this as a wedding cake a few years ago and it was a huge hit. I use this recipe for the cake – a white cake with almond extract: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/login.asp?docid=5694
This link is no longer working (dang it)! I was excited…
Which link?
I used to work at Whole Foods as a cake decorator! The secret to a super-moist cake is to brush the cake layers in simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water heated until dissolved). We did this to every cake and it makes a huge difference! You can play with the proportions of sugar/water to make it as sweet as you want or even add vanilla extract.
People go crazy for this cake!
How did whoel foods make the chantilly icing?
I follwed your chantilly frosting recipe to the t. Flavor is awesome but consistency is disappointing. It’s not firm and thick. Comparable to whip cream frosting only a tad thicker. Did I miss something?? Any ideas???
I’m sorry it didn’t come out the consistency you were looking for! You probably didn’t miss anything because this recipe does come out slightly fluffier that the Whole Foods version for sure. If you didn’t do this already, definitely try refrigerating it next time before putting it on the cake. I will make it again soon and see if there are some changes I can make to make it thicker. I might try stabilizing the whipped cream first by adding gelatin sheets or gelatin powder to the cream. Additional powdered sugar might do the trick as well, by then you might slightly sacrifice the flavor.
Just tried your frosting recipe. It is absolutely AMAZING!!! Best frosting I’ve ever tasted.
thank you so much! It’s seriously the mascarpone; I want to put that in everything now.
I added 2 sticks of butter to the same exact recipe and it was point on!
to the icing recipe? when did you add it? I’ll definitely have to try that next time!
What did you add the butter to? Cake or frosting?
i’m guessing she added the butter to the icing recipe since I don’t have a cake recipe just yet. I will have a perfect cake recipe to go with it in coming weeks though! If you decide to add butter, temp, I would cream it together with the cream cheese first.
Frosting was great!
I used the frosting from this recipe to top berry filled chocolate cupcakes. My friend hugged me when she tasted them!
http://teachingcraftingfaith.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-best-cupcake-youll-ever-eat.html
she did not! that literally just made my week. I’m so glad you liked it!
The berry sauce, did you put that on top of the icing, between the layers of the cake? I’m looking to make an all strawberry version of this for my daughters birthday! She loves strawberry cake, and I love chantilly… BAM! Best of both worlds, right?! 😉
The berry sauce goes underneath the icing in between the layers, and then the berries themselves go on top of the icing. So the order goes: cake, berry sauce, icing, sliced berries, cake, icing, whole berries, glaze. (and of course you can add more layers as well). I realized that when I transferred this blog post from blogger to wordpress, some of the step by step pictures got lost, so I apologize for the confusion! I also plan on making this cake again soon, so hopefully better pictures and an updated recipe will be in the works soon!
Your recipe is the best! I have been using this recipe for the last year and a half for birthdays. My family and co workers think I am an amazing baker. I have even had requests to make the cake for friends for THEIR special occasions. Those that have had the whole food’s recipe think this one is even better! When I make this cake I omit the jam. I didn’t have any when I first made it, and it turned out great, so I continued to make it without the jam. Thanks for figuring out the secrets to this fabulous cake!
This is the nicest comment i’ve ever received! Thank you so much for taking the time to try out my recipe. I’m absolutely elated that you have had such amazing results! Thank YOU for making my day!
This is my absolute favorite cake, and I WILL try this recipe this weekend. I love to make cakes from scratch and this one is a must now that I have the recipe. Thanks for sharing. I will let you know how it turns out. HAVE A FABULOUS DAY:)
It’s my favorite, too! And I always feel goofy saying it because it’s technically from a grocery store… And yes please keep my updated! I hope you are happy with the results!
My daughter loves berries so much and when one of her friends had this cake for a party she asked me if I can make the exact cake for her birthday! I said “No, they got it from whole foods so let’s just get it there”. She then said “but I like a frozen themed cake”. I am like, OMG, this kid is making me do wonders! I am so happy to have found this recipe! Now, I can take on the challenge of transforming it into a frozen themed cake. Thank you for your awesomeness!
You are so welcome! That sounds so fun. I can’t wait for the day when someone orders a frozen themed cake from me. I have so many ideas! Let me know how it turns out!
This cake looks amazing! Do you think the frosting will hold up in heat if I thicken it up a bit and chill the cake? Ineed to make it for an outdoor party so it will be sitting out for about an hour or 2
It is a very light frosting, so I would definitely suggest making it a little thicker. I would add another stick of butter (or double the butter if you plan on making a half recipe) and I would potentially cut the whipped cream by half. Then I would definitely chill the cake for at least an hour to give the butter time to set. I have made this cake twice since the one pictured, and for this one I did add more butter since we were going on a camping trip and it needed to stand up to the heat. (It was about 70 degrees outside if that helps). Let me know how it goes and what you decide!
Instead of a yellow cake recipe, have you tried a vanilla sponge cake recipe? ‘Cause that’s what we use at WF. 🙂
This recipe actually comes out pretty spongey since it’s liquid fat, but I’m definitely open to trying different types of cake! Thank you so much for the inside tip! I have a sponge cake recipe so I’ll give it a try next time.
I made this cake and the cake layers never got completely done. I used cake flour the first time so I blamed the cake flour. The second attempt was all purpose flour and still would not get done. The icing was delicious but the cake was a fail.
My frosting came out with a cottage cheese texture! What did I do wrong?
that’s so frustrating! There are a couple things that could have gone wrong but most likely I would say the whipped cream was overwhipped and the fat separated. It’s also possible the mascarpone was overwhipped which can lead the frosting coming out grainy.
This is the most perfect knock off recipe. My daughter requested this cake for her birthday. I made miniature cakes and she says it tasted better than the Whole Foods one! And they were soooo pretty. Thanks Sue! 🙂