The Perfect Chantilly Cake Recipe with a Box Mix (Video!)

This Chantilly Cake Recipe with Box Mix includes four layers of white almond sour cream cake, cream cheese & mascarpone mousse, raspberry filling, and loads of fresh berries! It's a fancy spring or summer dessert sure to impress guests!

The first time I made a Chantilly Cake for a client, it was a complete disaster. It tasted good, but it looked like a hot mess.

The frosting wouldn't stay on the side of the cake and basically had to scoop it into a box.

I had tried a few recipes prior to this one and they did not impress me. I was running out of time to bake for my order.

Then my friend Angela sent me her recipe and she convinced me it was a winner so I decided to use her recipe for my client without doing a practice run.

But again... it didn't turn out great for me. Mostly, I was having trouble with the filling and frosting being too soft and not sticking to the cake.

I was truly ashamed when I handed over the ugly cake to my client. Right then and there I decided that was the end of Chantilly Cakes for me.

I knew it tasted good but it looked like a toddler made it. And while my client didn't mind, I knew I didn't want to sell cakes that weren't pretty and delicious.

Then 2021 rolled around and I got a request for a wedding cake that was Chantilly Cake on the inside. Not too long after, I got another request. Then another.

I'm not sure what happened, but Chantilly Cakes were suddenly very popular and I decided I needed to figure out this cake.

Since I knew my friend Angela said her recipe was a winner, I decided to give it another try. And this time... I found success. The only thing that wasn't working for me was frosting for the outside of the cake so I decided to just go with my tried and true cream cheese buttercream.

Perfection! That's what happened next!

I'll admit, this cake takes a lot of steps and preparation. It's not the easiest cake I make, but the results are worth it! It's decadent, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth amazing. Since I sold the first one, my clients have been ordering them weekly!

What's a Chantilly Cake with Box Mix made of?

After reading dozens of recipes and websites, here's a list of what almost all of them include in Chantilly Cakes recipes.

• Vanilla or Almond Cake. It seems the addition of almond flavoring is a southern thing - maybe even a New Orleans thing. Several of the recipes I read that were not "southern" did not include almond.
• Mascarpone and/or Cream Cheese filling. Most have both kinds of cheese, along with powdered sugar, whipped cream, butter, and again, sometimes almond flavoring. I refer to this mixture as a "mousse" because it's insanely silky and smooth.
• Fruit filling or jam. The raspberry filling seems to be the most common but I've also seen strawberry and it varies between syrup, filling, and jams. Any would work! For my cakes, I've been using strawberry filling (made like this raspberry filling, but with strawberries).
• Fresh berries. Almost all recipes include strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Many also included blackberries (which I do most of the time).
• Many recipes used the filling that's inside the cake on the outside as well, but this didn't work well for me. Some used a different frosting for the outside - either vanilla buttercream or cream cheese buttercream. I chose a slight variation of this cream cheese buttercream.

Step-by-step photos of how to stack a Chantilly Cake

Okay - let me show you how to make a Chantilly Cake with a Box Mix. If you have a go-to favorite from-scratch vanilla or almond cake recipe, you could absolutely sub it in here, but I used my usual doctored cake mix recipe - white almond sour cream cake.

I baked it in two 8-inch round pans, then torted it into four layers after it cooled.

Traditionally most Chantilly Cakes only have 3 layers but since I run a small home bakery, I'm not baking multiple cakes a day to use up those extra layers, so I just use all 4 layers and give my clients a really tall cake.

Nobody complains 😉 After it's torted, I begin the filling and stacking process.

First, except for the final layer, I put cut-side-up for all the layers of this cake so the syrup easily absorbs. But before the syrup, I pipe a dam of stiff frosting around the outer edge of the cake.

I forgot a couple of pics of the first layer, so from here on out, you'll see layer two. After the stiff frosting, then I spoon in a layer of strawberry filling or syrup.

Next, I add a layer of the cream cheese and mascarpone mousse filling...

You'll want to use about a third of the filling, maybe a little less. Spread it out evenly.

Next, you're going to add fresh fruit. I cut the strawberries into thick slices and usually halve the raspberries and blackberries. I leave the blueberries whole unless they're huge. For this cake, I didn't have blackberries but I use them about 90% of the time and highly recommend them!

You're going to make three of these layers, then top with the last layer of cake, cut-side down.

When that's all done, it's time to frost the outside. I like to use my cream cheese frosting recipe with a little bit of the mousse filling mixed in. If you try this, just add a little at a time and be very careful to not make it too soft. Or just use the cream cheese frosting, as is.

From here, you can smooth-frost the cake or add texture. Then garnish with fresh berries or sugared berries. I've made several varieties:

Chantilly Sheet Cake

In addition to doing all this, if you want an "easier" option... you can do the whole thing as a sheet cake in a disposable pan. It's not as pretty, but it's much easier to put together, transport, and eat with a spoon. 😉

For the sheet-pan cakes, I poured the batter into a 9x13 disposable pan and baked it. Then I flipped it out, torted it, and added the mousse filling and fresh fruit inside, then added the second layer of cake with frosting and fresh fruit on top. It's just as delicious with a lot less work.

The only downside is not getting three layers of the amazing mousse filling... (you may have leftover mousse that'll need to be eaten with a spoon 🥄... darn).

If you do the traditional round cake as I've done, here are a few different ways I've 'decorated' the cakes...

Decorated Chantilly Cakes made with Box Mix

If you want to do the sugared berries, I have a recipe and tutorial here.

Related Recipes:

• White Almond Sour Cream Cake
• Raspberry Filling
• Whipped Cream
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Sugared Berries

Enjoy this amazing, decadent cake, and let me know what you think if you try it!

Print

Recipe