Sunday, July 22, 2012

Whole Foods Chantilly Cake

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 the most incredible frosting. So naturally, my instinct was to try and make it myself. And I must say, it came out pretty damn 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 being 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? 

Whole Foods Chantilly Cake 
What you will need: 
Simple yellow cake recipe (I used THIS ONE)
Chantilly cream frosting
Macerated strawberry/raspberry puree  
Apricot fruit glaze (or just thinned and microwaved apricot jam)

Chantilly Cream Ingredients
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 1/4 cup of sugar. Let this sit for about 5 or so minutes until you think the sugar has disolved into the puree.

1. Whip the cream cheese, mascarpone and confectioners sugar together until light and fluffy.

2. 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. 

3. Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated.

 The next steps I show you how to assemble the cake. I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory. Read the captions for more details about each pic

Let the sauce sit and soak in for a bit. I think this adds a bit of extra moisture to the cake
Spread a generous layer of the frosting on top of the sauce. With the spatula, make the outer rim of the frosting higher than the center so the fruit and sauce stay in the center of the cake rather than spill out the sides when you add the top layer of cake.
This is the crumb coat before the second coat of frosting. This is crucial for a smooth finish on your cake. The key is to not let the spatula touch the cake during round 2 of frosting. (for the crumb coat, you do)
Now the fun part - arrange your fruit! I cut the kiwi's in half. I also started with the biggest, aka the strawberries, and gradually worked my way down to the smallest (the blueberries)
Mel tryin to sneak a taste before we dig in. No one wanted to sing. LAME



  1. 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:

  2. 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!

    1. How did whoel foods make the chantilly icing?

  3. 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???

    1. 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.

  4. Just tried your frosting recipe. It is absolutely AMAZING!!! Best frosting I've ever tasted.

    1. thank you so much! It's seriously the mascarpone; I want to put that in everything now.

  5. I added 2 sticks of butter to the same exact recipe and it was point on!

    1. to the icing recipe? when did you add it? I'll definitely have to try that next time!