WASHINGTON (THE WASHINGTON POST) – This towering three-layer cake, with thick whipped cream frosting and ample berry layers, is doable at home and guarantees rave reviews.
For a few years now, I’ve been secretly obsessed with the berry chantilly cake at Whole Foods Market. (Whole Foods is owned by Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, also owns The Washington Post)
Tall and striking, it boasts three layers and gleaming-white whipped cream topping elegantly garnished with a cluster of berries. Slice it, and you discover more berries and cream inside.
The cake looks festive but not so fancy that it seems impossible to make. And it tastes really, really good. Delicately sweet cake is offset by rich but light frosting and brightened by juicy fresh berries. It feels like a celebration cake that doesn’t make you want to take a long nap afterward.
Since I got introduced to this cake – I can’t remember how it came into my life – I’ve preferred it over many pricier ones from fancier bakeries. In fact, while this cake is not exactly cheap, it is still very reasonable, especially when you consider how much effort goes into making any from-scratch cake. Spending less than USD40 for a cake that can serve up to 20 that’s as delicious as it is beautiful – and that you can just pick up on a moment’s notice – seems to me like a pretty great deal.
I had already discovered that the internet obsession with this cake has resulted in many DIY versions. And then I learned from a colleague that the woman who created it for Whole Foods is Chaya Conrad, who now runs the beloved Bywater Bakery in New Orleans.
In 2005, Conrad was working at the Arabella Station Whole Foods on Magazine Street when she created the cake, which was an immediate hit. Within a couple of years, the cake spread to Whole Foods locations throughout the South and Southwest, then nationwide. During this early growth spurt, Conrad went through a couple of revisions to ensure consistency.
The cake’s popularity grew, resulting in the inevitable copycat recipes online.
Conrad, who speaks with a warm, welcoming, almost songlike voice, told me the inspiration came from her grandmother, who made something similar when Conrad was growing up. But when developing the recipe, Conrad put her own spin on the cake by adding stabilized whipped cream frosting, so it could be displayed in the bakery case without weeping.
After leaving Whole Foods in 2009, Conrad went on to work at another popular New Orleans grocery store, Rouses Markets, before opening Bywater Bakery in 2017 – and has made a version of this cake at each stop. At Bywater, Conrad now makes the cake with white almond cake layers, but the original layers were yellow cake, which was what I was after.
Conrad promptly sent me both versions, and I got to work.
Armed with Conrad’s recipe, I set out to make the original. That meant tweaking it slightly to work more easily for the home cook, replacing some of the butter with neutral oil for a moist, tender crumb; using whole eggs instead of separating yolks and whites; and slightly upping the baking powder for a little more rise.
For the frosting, I made sure to follow Conrad’s careful instructions, which led me to pillowy clouds I wanted to tuck myself into. Her vital advice: Keep everything – ingredients, mixer bowl and the attachments – as cold as possible for as long as possible. If you have space in the freezer, use it. Take the ingredients out of the refrigerator as you need them, and not a moment sooner. And if, as you’re whipping the ingredients, you find that the bowl is warming up, as I did, slide a smaller bowl of ice water under the mixer bowl (if your stand mixer allows for that).
It’s likewise important to not underwhip the frosting; you want to whip it until it’s the consistency of stiff whipped cream – almost like Marshmallow Fluff – when you try to spread it. When frosting the sides of the cake, the whip should stay put, not move even a hair. If you don’t whip enough, the frosting will weep.
While the idea of a frosting layer as thick as cake is jaw-droppingly impressive, to make it work in a home kitchen in my non-industrial-size KitchenAid mixer – what’s a girl gotta do to get a Hobart around here? – I had to decrease the ingredient amounts slightly, keeping their proportions the same. Even with this reduced quantity, the frosting layers were still generous.
Having re-created Conrad’s nearly original version, I shared my small changes and asked for her take on all the versions of this cake out in the world.
“It’s fun to watch this happen,” she said in a phone interview, and I could tell she was smiling. “I love it – it’s fabulous. It’s wonderful to have people enjoy something you’ve had a hand in. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Does Conrad feel even a little wistful to have it not be attributed to her? “Look, it’s my cake, but I’ve written thousands of recipes by now….It’s just food.”
As to what makes the cake so popular, Conrad thinks it’s the classic combination of whipped cream and berries. “Buttercream is too sweet,” she says, but the texture you get with mascarpone, cream cheese and heavy cream is an ideal foil for the tart, juicy fruit.
And while I am well aware of the cake’s popularity, I’m still blown away by its reach. To wit, my husband had an appointment with our ophthalmologist a few weeks ago and was chatting with her about what I’ve been working on. He mentioned a summer-long cake exploration.
“This wouldn’t be the Whole Foods berry chantilly cake?” she asked. When my husband told her that, indeed, it was – admittedly, he was a little speechless from the randomness of her guess – she told him that her family loves this cake so much, they buy only a small slice of it per week, which they all share. “Otherwise,” she said, “we’d be eating an entire cake on a weekly basis.”
While I’m delighted to be able to make a version close to Conrad’s original, I’ll still be tempted to slip the Whole Foods one into my grocery cart when the craving hits and I’m short on time. I suspect that would be just fine with Conrad. “I just want everybody to enjoy it,” she says.
Berry Chantilly Cake
16 to 20 servings (makes one 8-inch three-tiered cake)
Total time: 2 hours, plus at least 6 hours of refrigeration
Storage: Refrigerate the cake for up to 3 days. You can loosely cover the cut-into part with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap. Refrigerate the simple syrup for up to 2 months.
Make ahead: The cake needs to be assembled and chilled at least 6 hours before serving.
Note: Baker Chaya Conrad advises keeping all the ingredients cold: “They will warm up by friction, and the most important thing about this icing is it staying cold through the whole process.” For good measure, thoroughly chill the bowl, too.
INGREDIENTS
For the cake layers:
Nonstick baking spray, such as Pam Perfect Release
3 ¾ cups (480 grammes) cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine salt
2 1/3 cups (466 grammes) granulated sugar
1 ½ sticks (170 grammes/12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (180 milliliteres) neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (320 millilitres) whole or reduced-fat milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the simple syrup:
½ cup (100 grammes) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 millilitres) water
For the frosting:
12 ounces (340 grammes) cold cream cheese, preferably the Philadelphia brand
Generous 2 ¾ cups (340 grammes) unsifted confectioners’ sugar
12 ounces (340 grammes) cold mascarpone cheese
2 2/3 cups (605 grammes) cold heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon almond extract, or to taste
For assembly:
1 to 1 ½ cups each fresh strawberries (hulled and halved or quartered if large), raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, patted dry, plus more for decoration
DIRECTIONS
Make the cake layers: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with baking spray and line their bottoms with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a large bowl and a hand mixer, combine the sugar and butter. Starting the mixer on low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high, beat the mixture until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Slowly pour in the oil and beat until fully incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Reduce the mixer speed to low, add a third of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add half of the milk and the vanilla, and mix until combined. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, the remaining milk and the final batch of the flour mixture, mixing each addition until just combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and briefly mix on low to ensure no pockets of dry ingredients remain.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans – each pan should get about 600 grammes of batter.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans and moving them front to back midway through, or until the top of each cake is slightly domed and golden, the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a cake tester inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely in the pan.
Make the simple syrup: While the cake is baking, in a small saucepan over low heat, combine the sugar and water, and cook, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until needed; you should have a generous 2/3 cup (180 milliliteres).
Make the frosting: While the cake is baking, place the bowl of a stand mixer in the refrigerator to thoroughly chill (If using a hand mixer, place a large bowl, preferably metal, in the refrigerator).
When ready to frost the cake, if using a stand mixer, remove the bowl from the refrigerator and lock it in the stand. Fit it with a paddle attachment, and add the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar. (If using a hand mixer, set the chilled bowl over a damp kitchen towel spread out on the counter – to prevent the bowl from moving around.) Mix on low speed just to combine, then increase the speed to medium and beat until thoroughly combined and there are no lumps, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the mascarpone and beat on medium-high until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and start the mixer on low speed. Slowly add the cream, stopping and scraping the bowl as needed until all of the cream has been incorporated. Add the almond extract and mix to incorporate. The mixture should be very loose.
Replace the paddle attachment with the whisk attachment. Start the mixer again on low and gradually bring the speed to medium-high, then beat the mixture until ribbons start to form, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Watch this step closely: The frosting should be thick, the consistency of whipped cream or mousse. It’s important to not underwhip or overwhip the frosting: The former will be loose and will slide/slip off the cake when you’re frosting with it, and the latter will start to break. If the cake layers are not completely cooled, refrigerate until ready to use; otherwise, assemble the cake.
Assemble the cake: If the cake layers are visibly domed, gently trim them using a large serrated knife so they’re level. Place one cake layer, bottom side up, on a plate or cake decorating stand. Lightly drizzle – do not douse – with the simple syrup just to moisten (1 to 2 tablespoons). Place a generous heap (about 2 cups) of the frosting in the centre and, using an offset spatula, spread it to the edges of the cake. You want the thickness of the frosting to be generous. Add enough berries to densely and evenly cover the surface of the frosting – you want to barely see the frosting for the berries – ensuring the fruit goes to the edges of the layer.
Set a second cake layer on top, bottom side up, and repeat with the simple syrup, frosting and berries. Top with the final cake layer and drizzle lightly with the simple syrup.(You will have leftover simple syrup; refrigerate until needed.) Cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting as you like. Top with more fresh berries, decorating as you like.
Refrigerate at least 6 hours or, preferably, overnight, before serving. – OLGA MASSOV
