Truly easy and perfect make-ahead cake for all occasions! Light and delicate sponge cake layers loaded with fluffy Chantilly cream frosting and fresh berries.
This is how we should start every Monday! With a tall, beautiful and insanely delicious cake. Right, right?
Light and delicate sponge cake layers generously filled with equally delicate and fluffy Chantilly cream frosting. And paired with lots of fresh berries, this cake is just what you want to celebrate summer! Or bridal shower, or baby shower, or birthdays. This cake is good great for all occasions.
Don’t let the fancy name fool you. Chantilly cream, or more appropriately crème Chantilly, is basically sweetened whipped cream originated in small town of Chantilly, France. Simple and delicious! Yep, this berry Chantilly cake is not only beautiful to look at and delicious to eat, but it’s also super easy to make. And the best part is you can totally make it a day in advance. Actually, I strongly recommend you make it a day ahead, so the cake layers soak up the flavors from the filling. -> Flavorful, light and berrylicious!
I first learned about this cake from my friend Amy a few weeks ago, who ordered it for her friend’s bridal shower out of town. Its name and her description of the cake intrigued me and I had to try it right away. Sure enough, it was the BEST!
We will start with making light and sturdy sponge cake. I chose basic Genoise sponge cake method here, aka Italian sponge cake. Unlike traditional sponge cake, this method calls for beating the whole eggs, instead of separating them. Yay for one less step and fewer dishes to do!
Because the batter doesn’t have any chemical leaveners, properly beating the egg mixture is essential to success of the cake. You want your batter pale, thick and quadrupled in size. To check for the proper consistency, lift the whisk and let the batter to fall. If it leaves a distinct trail behind, it’s ready. It’s called “trail” test, basically testing if the batter leaves a trail or not. Once the egg mixture is whipped, gently fold in the flour, being careful not to deflate the batter, or the cake won’t rise and will be heavy. Again, more air in the batter, the lighter and taller the cake will be.
Cool the cake completely on wire rack before slicing it into layers. Otherwise, you’ll risk breaking it, as the cake is fragile when hot.
Side note: I’m horrible at cutting the cake into layers. I can barely slice a cake into 2 even layers, and if I need 3 layers, just forget about it! That’s why I’m so happy I invested in this layer cake slicing kit. (<- The best purchase ever!) Perfectly even, thin layers every time without much effort!
Now, onto the filling. For sturdier and more flavorful Chantilly cream, I added some cream cheese and splash of orange liquor. Oh, frosting heaven!! Generously fill each layer with said frosting and lots of fresh berries, and then cover the entire cake with remaining frosting. Alternatively, you can leave the cake naked (without frosting the sides), if desired. It looks just as gorgeous!
What occasion would you like to bake this cake? Any birthdays or showers on horizon?
As always, thank you for reading! Have a berry nice day! 🙂
Berry Chantilly Cake
Ingredients
For sponge cake:
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 cup 100gr sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup 125gr cake flour
- 3 tablespoons 40gr unsalted butter, melted
For frosting:
- 1 1/2 cup 360ml heavy cream
- 8 oz 225gr cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cup 190gr powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons orange liquor such as Grand Marnier, optional
For filling:
- 2 cups 265gr fresh strawberries
- 6 oz 170gr fresh raspberries
- 6 oz 170gr fresh blackberries (or blueberries)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Coat 9-inch round springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until it’s thick, pale and quadrupled in size. It took about 5 minutes in stand mixer. (So It might take up to 10 minutes with handheld electric mixer.) When you lift the whisk, it should leave a trail in the batter, as shown in the photo above.
- Add flour and gently fold until mostly combined. Gently stir in the melted butter and mix until the batter is smooth, about a minute. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and revert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- To make the filling, in a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream until hard peaks form. Transfer into another bowl.
- Place the cream cheese in the mixing bowl with whisk attachment, and beat until fluffy, about a minute. Add sugar, vanilla extract and orange liquor and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add whipped cream and gently fold into smooth frosting.
- Slice the strawberries nice and thin. Reserve 1/3 of all berries for topping.
- Using a serrated knife, slice the cake horizontally into 3 even layers. Place the bottom cake layer on a cake stand lined with 4 strips of parchment paper. (It helps to frost the cake without messing up the stand.) Smear thin layer of frosting on the cake. Arrange one layer of berries and then smear another layer of frosting over the berries. Place the middle layer of the cake and repeat the frosting/berry layers. Place the top layer and frost the entire cake. Arrange the reserved berries on top of the cake. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, ideally overnight.
Tips & Notes:
Becky says
This looks and sounds wonderful. Quick question – I am not a fan of cream cheese, could I make the frosting without it? What would you recommend?
Shinee says
Hi, Becky. Cream cheese makes the frosting sturdier. Maybe use mascarpone instead?
Janet says
I am going to make this cake for about 15 women for next Friday and we are going out to a restaurant to celebrate a friend’s birthday who is battling lung cancer. I have a 12x12x3″ square cake pan that I just bought and want to use that for the cake. Would I make a double recipe to fill a pan this size and do you think the cake would come out of the pan okay. This is exactly the kind of cake she wants but I need to feed quite a few people. So glad you’re back – always love your recipes and thank you for your help.
Shinee says
Hi, Janet. Sorry to hear about your friend’s illness. Yes, double the recipe and you’ll probably have to bake longer. Hope it turns out great and your friend will love it.
Kristen says
I made this for a birthday at work and my co-workers LOVED it! One is even commissioning me for their wife’s birthday! The cream cheese whipped cream frosting is delicious. I read some others thought the cake was a little heavy but I thought it was good. It is a sponge cake. I would be careful with this cake after mixing and very gentle with it in and out of the oven as mine fell in the middle because of it. Still turned out great I just did one layer instead of two!
Shinee says
Yay, Kristen. So happy you tried this cake and everyone loved it. And I agree the sponge cake does need a careful gentle mixing and handling, it’s so delicate. Thank you so much for your feedback.
Cheryl F. says
This recipe is messed up as it has no baking powder, an you end up with a sponge cake that is about 3/4″ thick, kinda hard to make a layer cake with that. Had to remake with another cake recipe.
Shinee says
Hi, Cheryl. Sorry to hear yours didn’t turn out. But I wish you had read the whole post above the recipe. I specifically emphasized that because this is a SPONGE cake without chemical leaveners, it’s very important to properly beat the eggs until it’s thick and quadrupled in size. Plus more tips to ensure tall and light cake layer. I’m sure if you had carefully followed those tips, you’ve gotten tall enough cake to cut into layers. Thanks for your feedback though.
Milli says
Thank you SOOOOO much for posting this recipe. I just made this cake today, and i am OBSESSED with it.
Shinee says
Yay, Milli! So happy to hear you loved the cake!! Thanks for your feedback!
Sharon says
Hi,
this is a lovely cake and you did an awesome job but i’m trying to figure out what exactly is chantilly cream . Is it a cream cheese frosting with whipped cream or is it the whipped cream? Step 5 of the directions required for whipped cream to be folded in. Is this store bought whipped cream or whipped cream made from heavy cream?
Shinee says
Hi, Sharon! To my understanding, Chantilly cream is basically whipped cream type of frosting. I added cream cheese for stability here. The whipped cream in step 5 is the one you make out of heavy cream in step 4. Hope this helps. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.
Lena says
Your recipe calls for 4 large eggs, in the picture it looks like 6 eggs. I am curious which is it?
Shinee says
Hi, Lena! 4 eggs. It looks like one egg yolk was broken and it looks like there’s more. Sorry for confusion.
Ginny says
Hi! I saw this on Pinterest and have been wanting to make this for my sons birthday. I’ve never done a foam cake before and starting out it looked great but I think when I did the flour and butter I lost the foam. Do you still use the whisk on the blender or use a spatula to fold it.? Anyway, I’m inspired to keep trying.
Shinee says
Hi, Ginny. You want to gently fold the batter with a spatula. I’ll clarify it in the recipe. Thanks for asking.
Lee says
I am making this today, although I only have fresh strawberries and blue berries to work with.
Shinee says
Hi, Lee! So happy you’re making this cake! Strawberries and blueberries would be just fine! Hope you enjoy it!
Fran says
Lovely looking cake. I would like to try this recipe, but was wondering, do you think the frosting would hold its shape for piping? I have someone wanting a chantilly cake for their baby shower, but they want piped rosettes covering it. Do you think I could achieve that look with this frosting?
Shinee says
Hi, Fran! Though the frosting isn’t runny, or too soft, I don’t know how it’ll hold its shape for a long. Since the majority of it is made of whipped cream, I’m not too positive. Sorry, not much help here, Fran.
Candice C says
How long would you bake if using a 6″ x 2″ round cake pan? I’m so so excited to make this!
Shinee says
Hi, Candice! Are you going to use two 6-inch pans? If not, you’ll have excess batter. If you’re using 2 pans, I can’t be sure, but start checking after 15 minutes.
Dora Medini says
Hi! Good morning!! Can I make this and cover it with fondant?
Shinee says
Hi Dora! I never tried using fondant on a sponge cake. I’m afraid it’s too fluffy and soft cake, and it might collapse from heavy fondant. But then again that’s just my speculation. Sorry not much help here.