Vegan Berry Chantilly Cake (Whole Foods Copy Cat)
Before my boyfriend turned vegan his favorite cake was the Whole Food’s Berry Chantilly Cake. This vegan version is just as good as the original – super moist vanilla cake topped with fresh berries and cream. Delicious!
This vegan berry chantilly cake is a fully plant-based take on the iconic Whole Foods dessert with fluffy vanilla cake layers, fresh strawberries and blueberries, and a silky vegan cream cheese frosting. While not feasible to completely replicate the Whole Foods version, I would say this one is close enough!
If you’re looking for more vegan desserts, give the following recipes a try.
- no bake vegan Biscoff cheesecake
- holiday favorite mango & peach crumble pie
- healthy zucchini bread with chocolate chips
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Common ingredients. The ingredients are easy to find. The most hard to source ingredient would be the vegan cream cheese and you can find that now at most specialty grocery stores.
- Dairy free. Deliciously sweet and moist cake without the use of eggs or any dairy products
- Beginner friendly. If you’ve never frosted a cake before, give this recipe a try! The classic stripes easily hides mistakes.
What is a berry chantilly cake?
The Whole Food’s Berry Chantilly Cake is a layered vanilla cake with fresh berries and chantilly cream. The vanilla cake is yellow, not white, and uses unbleached cake flour. The chantilly cream is a mixture between mascarpone and cream cheese.
This vegan recipe swaps the dairy components for soy milk and vegan cream cheese. While I haven’t been able to figure out how to replicate mascarpone, I don’t necessarily think it’s required for this recipe. After cooking plant-based for many years, I’ve come to learn that you don’t have to and can’t replicate everything for the vegan version!
How to make a vegan berry chantilly cake
Step 1. Mix the vegan vanilla cake batter
Step 2. Bake in oven at 350℉ for 30 mins
Step 3. Whip the “chantilly” cream frosting
Step 4. Refrigerate overnight t
Key ingredients & substitutions
- Vegan cream cheese – Store bought vegan cream cheese provides the tangy richness and structure that whipped coconut cream alone can’t replicate. Trader Joe’s, Kite Hill, and Violife are all reliable options.
- Soy milk – Its neutral flavor and fat content make it the closest plant-based substitute for dairy milk in baking. Other nut milks can be substituted but may produce a slightly denser crumb as it likely does not have the same fat or protein structure.
- Apple cider vinegar – Combined with the baking soda acts as a leavening agent that helps the cake rise and creates a fluffy, tender crumb. White vinegar works as a substitute.
- Corn starch – Mixed together with all purpose flour creates cake flour mix. I recommend not substituting corn starch or your cake will come out more dense!
Tips & Tricks
- Get the batter in the oven immediately – Once the apple cider vinegar and baking soda start reacting, the air bubbles that make the cake fluffy begin forming right away. Don’t mix and let it sit — get it into the molds and into the oven as soon as everything is combined.
- Don’t overmix the batter – Mix just until the wet and dry ingredients are combined. Overmixing develops gluten and leads to a dense, gummy crumb.
- Let the cream cheese soften first – Cold vegan cream cheese is hard to break down, even in a stand mixer. Budget up to 15 minutes of whipping time for a fully smooth result.
- Refrigerate often – After the first coat of frosting, refrigerate the assembled cake for at least 2 hours before applying the final layer. This sets the filling, holds the berries in place, and gives you a cleaner surface to work on. If you find that your cake is not holding up to structure, let it rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours before working on it again.
Vegan Berry Chantilly Cake
A vegan version of Whole Food's Berry Chantilly Cake. This recipe is a delicious blend of moist vanilla layers, fresh strawberries and blueberries, and a silky cream cheese frosting.Recipe is for a 6 inch cake.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Day 1
- Sift the dry ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line the bottom of the cake molds with parchment paper. In a stand mixer on low – medium speed, mix together the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt. Use a sifter if you have one to maximize the fluffiness of the vegan cake mixture.
- Mix in the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, mix together the wet ingredients of the cake: soy milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Once the oven is finished preheating, increase the speed of the mixer to medium. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the mixer and mix for 1-2 minutes until everything is well combined. Try not to over mix! Immediately transfer the batter into the cake molds and place into the oven.
- Bake the cake. Bake the cake for 30-38 minutes. The batter should leave no traces if you stick a toothpick through the entire cake. Check the doneness of the cake starting at the 30 minute mark and add it back into the oven for longer if it fails the toothpick test. Move on to the next step while you wait for the cake to bake.
- Make the cream cheese frosting. In a stand mixer, whip together the vegan cream cheese, soy milk, and vanilla extract. Start at slow speed and increase the speed to high as the vegan cream cheese breaks up more. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Keep whipping until everything is combined and smooth. This can take a while as sometimes vegan cream cheese can be tough to break down. I use the Trader Joe's brand and it takes me ~15 minutes.
- Chill overnight. After the cake is done baking, let it cool completely before removing the molds and parchment paper. Wrap each cake piece in plastic wrap to retain the moisture. Transfer the whipped frosting into a container. Put everything in the fridge and let it chill overnight.
You want to place the cake batter into the oven immediately after everything is mixed. Once the apple cider vinegar and baking soda start to react the mixture will create air bubbles that you'll want baked into the final cake so that it's fluffy.
If your vegan cream cheese is tough, let it set out in room temperature for an hour before starting. You can use a flat beater so it helps break the texture down and then transition to a wire whip.
Do not skip this step. Vegan cream cheese does not hold it's shape well with heat so chilling helps it retain its shape.
Day 2
- Frost the cake. Add sliced strawberries and blueberries in each frosting layer as well as on top of the final layer. I recommend chilling the frosted cake for 2 hours before adding the final coat of frosting. Drag a spoon around the cake to create "rings", this is the Whole Foods berry chantilly cake signature stripes! Chill another 2-4 hours after the final frosting layer before cutting and serving.
