By Kasia Pilat and Alexa Weibel, The New York Times
When Lisa Younes visited her local Whole Foods Market in Berkeley, California, last month she expected to walk out with a slice of her beloved Berry Chantilly cake: With its lofty layers of almond-scented cake and fluffy mascarpone frosting dotted with fresh mixed berries, it had become her go-to sweet treat for the past year.
But there were none available. “I just received the worst news in my entire life,” Younes declared in a TikTok posted Sept. 21 from the store’s parking lot. “Whole Foods is discontinuing the Berry Chantilly cake that we all know and love.” She uploaded her reaction — and it quickly drew more than 1.5 million views.
For more than a week, speculation, misinformation and outrage swirled online: Had Whole Foods, owned by Amazon since 2017, eliminated the fresh berries entirely? Would individual slices exist no more? How could the company touch — let alone discontinue, as many surmised — its wildly popular cake, a staple at weddings, birthdays and family celebrations, a cake so renowned it had been trademarked? Chaos reigned on social media, in the news and in the minds of Chantilly cake fanatics.
One theory was that Whole Foods had not discontinued the cake, but changed the recipe to cut costs: “Whole Foods’ Chantilly cake is a victim of shrinkflation,” said Zarinah Williams in a TikTok video. Where there had once been fresh berries in the layers of cream, she observed, only a thin strip of cream and an unfamiliar red jam stood in their place. What was once a slice of cake that occupied most of its clear, hinged takeout container had seemingly dwindled to half its size, with loose berries rattling around in the remaining space.
In an email statement to The New York Times on Sept. 26, Nathan Cimbala, a Whole Foods Market spokesperson, said the company had “aligned the flavor profile, size, packaging and price” to standardize the cake slices sold in stores. The reasoning, according to the statement, was that customers would “have the same high-quality experience” no matter which store their cake slices came from.
Whole Foods’ cult cake dates back to 2002, when Chaya Conrad, then the bakery team leader of a Whole Foods in New Orleans, created the Berry Chantilly cake. Inspired by a cream cheese frosting her grandmother would make, Conrad layered a delicate yellow cake with berries and whipped up a cream frosting enriched with mascarpone and cream cheese.
Years before it would go viral on social media, the cake — tall, towering and studded with fresh berries — “was an immediate success; from Day 1 it turned into something,” Conrad said. Over the next 22 years, the cake, available whole, as a cupcake or by the slice, made its way into family traditions and customers’ hearts.
Conrad said she could see why Whole Foods might want to streamline the cake’s production process. “You have a lot of berries that are very seasonal, the price fluctuates a lot, the availability fluctuates a lot,” she said. “It is globalization at its finest — raspberries, blueberries, blackberries shipped in from wherever. As a businessperson I understand why on a large level they want to make things more consistent.”
In the end, however, the Berry Chantilly cake was untouchable — and Whole Foods reversed any plans to alter it: “Based on feedback from our customers, we will reintroduce single slices of the Berry Chantilly cake that are the same as the classic our customers know and love,” Cimbala said in an email Monday.
Chantilly cake fans who want a taste of the cake as it has been perfected by its creator over the last two decades can always buy one from Conrad’s Bywater Bakery, which opened in New Orleans in 2017.
Related Articles
The beet goes on: It’s time to embrace the earthy vegetable
Recipe: Crack the code for the tastiest caramelized, pan-fried pork chops
Savory-sweet soy basting sauce transforms ground chicken into izakaya-style meatballs
Five Weeknight Dishes: It’s time to make one-pot chicken and rice
A Rosh Hashana dish keeps the memory of home
“It is a huge part of my sales here, and it always will be,” Conrad said. The recipe she uses at Bywater has evolved to include a white rather than yellow cake base, shifting with local tastes and trends. “To have something that you’ve made that has turned into such a big deal is pretty wild. In New Orleans, when I pass, they’ll be second lining with Chantilly hats and things.”
Recipe: Chantilly Cake With Berries
Recipe from Chaya Conrad
Adapted by Alexa Weibel
You might recognize this berry-laden, emoji-ideal cake from birthday parties, family gatherings or the shelves of supermarket chains selling copycat versions across the country — but this recipe has been perfected by its creator during the last 20 years. Invented by Chaya Conrad, the head chef and owner of Bywater Bakery in New Orleans, when she worked in the bakery department at Whole Foods, this newer version of her famed layer cake skips the traditional yellow cake for an almond-scented white cake base. Inspired by crème Chantilly (whipped cream), the frosting is thickened and stabilized with cream cheese and mascarpone, and has inspired Chantilly doughnuts, Chantilly king cakes and Chantilly ice cream. “To have something that you’ve made that has turned into such a big deal is pretty wild,” Conrad observed on the impact of her creation. “In New Orleans, when I pass, they’ll be second lining with Chantilly hats and things.” — Alexa Weibel
Yield: 1 (8-inch) layer cake; 12 servings
Total time: 6 hours
Ingredients
For the cake:
Nonstick spray
3 1/4 cups (390 grams) cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (246 milliliters) half-and-half
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) almond extract
2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 large egg whites (180 grams)
For the Chantilly frosting:
12 ounces cream cheese, chilled
3 1/3 cups (340 grams) powdered sugar
12 ounces mascarpone, chilled
3 cups (720 milliliters) heavy whipping cream, chilled
For the simple syrup:
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
For the fruit garnish:
12 ounces strawberries, rinsed and dried
6 ounces blackberries, rinsed and dried
6 ounces raspberries, rinsed and dried
6 ounces blueberries, rinsed and dried
Preparation
1. Prepare the cake batter: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick spray. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray the top of the parchment.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In another medium bowl, whisk to combine the half-and-half, oil and almond extract.
4. Add the granulated sugar and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and cream using the paddle attachment on medium speed until sugar is almost dissolved and mixture is lighter in color, about 5 minutes.
5. Add egg whites to creamed butter and sugar in two portions, mixing until smooth and scraping down in between additions and after.
6. Gradually add half the flour mixture to the creamed butter on low speed and mix until smooth, then repeat with half the oil mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Repeat, blending in the remaining flour then the remaining oil mixture, until smooth.
7. Divide the cake batter among your prepared cake pans (about 2 heaping cups per pan), gently smoothing each into an even layer.
8. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cakes cool to room temperature in their pans.
9. Prepare the frosting while the cakes bake: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar together, starting on low speed then moving to medium speed, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
10. Add mascarpone cheese and blend only until incorporated. On low speed, mix in the heavy cream, scraping the sides as needed.
11. Chill the frosting for 1 hour (the mixture must be cold when whipped or it will break).
12. While the frosting chills, make the simple syrup: In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil over high heat and cook until sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool before using.
13. Beat the chilled frosting using the whisk attachment on high speed until stiff peaks appear and the frosting starts to look less glossy, 1 to 2 minutes, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl after 1 minute. You’ll want to pay close attention here, as the frosting can become grainy if overmixed. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the cake. The frosting can be stored for up to three days, but will need to be whipped again if it is chilled for more than a few hours.
14. Prepare the fruit: Set aside about one-third of the strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries to garnish the cake, then trim and slice the remaining strawberries in half, thirds or even quarters, from tip to stem, depending on their size. Slice the remaining blackberries in half. In a large bowl, mix together all the sliced strawberries and blackberries with the raspberries and blueberries.
15. Assemble the cake: Place your first layer of cake on a cake plate, with the rounded top of the cake down. (You may need to run a butter knife around the perimeter of the cake to help release it from the pan.) Brush one-third of the simple syrup (a scant 2 tablespoons) on the cake layer. Spread 1 1/2 cups frosting on the top of the cake, then top with half of the sliced berry mixture, laying the fruit flat in an even layer.
16. Top with your next cake layer, rounded side down. Brush cake with half the remaining simple syrup. Spread another 1 1/2 cups frosting on top and top with the rest of the sliced berry mixture.
17. Top with the third cake layer, rounded side down, and brush with remaining simple syrup.
18. Use half the remaining frosting to crumb coat the cake, evenly icing the sides and top. Refrigerate the coated cake (and the remaining frosting) for 1 hour to firm up.
19. Use the remaining icing to decorate the sides and top in the style you like. Top with the fruit you reserved for garnish.
20. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving, although it’s best if it sets up overnight. (If you serve it too quickly the slices fall apart.)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.