Best Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake Bake Off

Do you love the Berry Chantilly cake from Whole Foods? I tested 8 copycat recipes to see which gets the closest to replicating this iconic cake!

To me, there is no better grocery store cake than the Berry Chantilly cake from Whole Foods. It’s simultaneously fresh and light from the fruit and cream with a tender, close crumb that feels airy but substantial enough to stand up to the fillings. The frosting is thicker than a whipped cream but not nearly as sugary as a buttercream or as heavy as a cream cheese frosting. With a hint of almond extract, it just feels like a magical summer cake formula.

I knew this bake off would be a lot of work, but I’m so happy to have finally tackled it because we found a recipe that’s a pretty perfect stand in for the storebought version. There are tons of copycat recipes floating around the internet, so let’s dive in and see which ones get the closest to the original!

Methodology

• I baked all 8 cakes in one day (the same day of tasting for freshness)
• 40 total tasters rated samples of all 9 cakes (including the original Whole Foods cake)
• Each taster rated each cake on a scale from 0-10 for flavor, texture and overall as a whole (see Results section below for the ratings)
• Each taster also rated each cake based on how similar it was to the original Whole Foods Berry Chantilly cake
• All cakes were baked in 9×13 pans for easier slicing
• I ignored the berry measurements for each cake and simply used 16 oz of fresh blueberries in each cake to standardize the fruit
• Ingredients were measured by weight according to King Arthur (unless the recipe specified weights)

Ingredients

• Gold Medal bleached all-purpose flour
• King Arthur unbleached cake flour
• Kirkland unsalted butter
• BelGioioso mascarpone
• Philadelphia cream cheese
• Jello instant vanilla pudding mix
• Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Results

This bake off is slightly different from others in that I asked tasters to answer two main questions. Our first chart below answers the first question: which cake was the most similar to the original Whole Foods Berry Chantilly cake?

Meanwhile, our second chart answers a second question: which cake did you like the best overall?

As you can see, the #1 slot remains the same (Broma Bakery was the most similar AND most-liked cake). But the cakes that were rated MOST SIMILAR to the original weren’t necessarily listed in the same order as the most liked. Interestingly, the New York Times recipe (submitted to the NYT by Chaya Conrad, the original developer of the recipe) ranked fourth most similar to the Whole Foods cake.

I know I say this in most bake offs, but I truly think there wasn’t a bad cake in this batch. In the words of one taster: “Note on all cakes: the numbers are honestly somewhat arbitrary…this time around, [the cakes are] definitely more uniform (and uniformly good!) but I don’t know if I could pick any specific one out of a lineup!”

I do agree that this bake off had slightly less variety compared to others, which made it hard to judge each cake on a quantitative basis. In the words of another taster: “How are these all so good?” So the good news: no matter which cake you pick, you’re likely to pick a winner! In the analysis section, I’ll do my best to point out the specific positives and negatives of each recipe.

As a note: I standardized each cake in this bake off on 16 oz of fresh blueberries rather than the berry medley that recipes typically calls for. The point of this bake off was to judge the accuracy of the cake and frosting against the original, and I wanted as few confounding factors as possible. (I almost thought about serving the cakes sans berries, but you can’t have a Berry Chantilly cake without berries!)

Factors

Butter and oil reigns supreme

Of all the recipes I tested, 6 out of 8 recipes used a combination of butter and oil. Only Sugar Spun Run used all butter and Danielle Sepsy had no fat in her sponge cake base. These recipes were ranked near the bottom in terms of similarity to the original Whole Foods cake. So as a general rule, using a mix of oil and butter is key to getting close the original cake’s texture.

Cake flour is generally superior

Out of the 8 recipes I tested, only 3 used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour (Modern Honey, Sugar Spun Run and Danielle Sepsy). While the latter two also had fat (I.e. butter only and no fat) as confounding factors, the recipes that used cake flour were generally rated more similar to the original cake.

Modern Honey is the recipe that confounds this trend (it was ranked second with all-purpose flour), but I wonder if the inclusion of instant pudding mix helped give it the same kind of flavor edge that cake flour provides in a cake.

Whole eggs are welcome for a Whole Foods cake dupe

By definition, the difference between a yellow cake and white cake is the use of whole eggs vs. egg whites. One of the things I found most surprising was that the closest dupe for the original Whole Foods cake (which looks like a white cake) used…whole eggs.

The original recipe published by Chaya Conrad on NYT uses egg whites, and I assumed that’s what was needed to get a perfect white cake crumb. However, Broma Bakery’s use of whole eggs adds just the tiniest yellow tint that’s barely noticeable when you compare the cakes side by side. In fact, the original Whole Foods cake has more of a yellow hue (matching Broma Bakery) than NYT, which makes me wonder if WF has since tweaked the original recipe.

No need to reverse cream

Personally, I love the reverse creaming method for a cake–it lends an even, tight crumb that gets closer to a bakery style cake. However, this bake off proved that to get a Whole Foods Berry Chantilly crumb, reverse creaming is absolutely not necessary.

In fact, two out of the three cakes that used reverse creaming (Bake with Zoha and Sugar Spun Run) were rated towards the bottom of the similarity chart. Meanwhile, the original Bywater Bakery recipe via New York Times and Broma Bakery use the regular creaming method.

Analysis

Below I’ll go into detail on each cake and include taster commentary. These are listed in order of least to most similar to the original Whole Foods cake (starting with the original cake):

Original Whole Foods Berry Chantilly cake

If you haven’t tried the control cake, I’ll do my best to describe it. The crumb is light, delicate and moist but on the edge of crumbly so it just melts in your mouth. It has all the airy softness and almost fall-apart tender qualities of a cake mix (while still retaining a good structure that you can fork through) without the chemical-forward flavor. And since we actually did compare it to a doctored cake mix, I can confirm that this cake texture is denser in a good way.

The cake itself isn’t too sweet and feels perfectly balanced by the sweeter (but not too sweet!) frosting. Chantilly cream is defined as a sweetened whipped cream often flavored with vanilla, but this also gets a subtle, welcome heft and tang from additional dairy-mascarpone and cream cheese, if the original NYT recipe is still accurate.

Anyway, that’s my take! Here are some notes from the other tasters:

Taster comments:

• Light and not too sweet, very almond forward. The cake texture is soft and sturdy–held its shape well despite the journey of carrying the box home. Great distinct layers and ideal texture of the cream.
• I’ve never had this famous cake before, so this is a totally fresh impression that may have been skewed by exposure to maybe excessive hype. It’s definitely a good cake, and as far as grocery store cakes go, it’s definitely high quality. I didn’t feel the cake itself was anything to write home about — a light crumb, moist and inoffensive. Its texture feels slightly like how cakes feel after they’ve been frozen, but I don’t know whether that’s part of Whole Foods’ process. I assume the chantilly cream is maybe more the claim to fame — it has the lightness of a whipped cream with the not-quite-unctuous mouthfeel of a richer topping than just straight cream and sugar.
• I love the Whole Foods cake, but eating 8 other delicious cakes in the same moment made me realize how much more delicious a homemade cake tastes!
• Somewhat dry, almost almondy taste, quite sweet with not a ton of other notes
• The cake itself tasted mass produced, very standard base cake. Whipped cream tastes like it might have stabilizers in it.
• It just outright didn’t taste homemade. The frosting was almost watery (not creamy and rich enough), while the cake itself tasted a bit fake/artificial with an aftertaste of cooking oil.

Danielle Sepsy: a cottony angel food cake base scented with almond and vanilla with a sweet frosting

Danielle was the only one used a sponge cake as the base for her reimagining of the Whole Foods recipe. After researching chiffon cakes intensively, I can now recognize that her base is not a chiffon cake because it’s fatless. But since it has both egg whites and yolks, it’s not an angel food cake–it is by definition a sponge cake! After whipping the egg whites and yolks separately, you’ll have a fluffy meringue that gets folded into the yolky batter. Danielle soaks the finished cake in a simple syrup with both almond and vanilla extract. For the frosting, Danielle was the only one that included butter along with mascarpone, cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract.

This was absolutely a delightful cake that some tasters rated a perfect 10! The light and spongy cake base absorbs the vanilla and almond soak…well, like a sponge. A few tasters noted that this mascarpone and butter frosting felt very similar to the original Whole Foods cake. Personally, I thought the frosting was a little sweeter with less body than the original, but I did like the stronger notes of vanilla and almond. The angel food cake is definitively not very similar to the Whole Foods cake with more of a spongy resistance vs. a cakey crumb. But some might say (and have said) that this one is better! A great option if you want a lighter cake.

Taster comments:

• I love this one. For whatever reason I get a strong almond impression which I love in sweets, and it reminds me somewhat of castella cake, bouncy and dense without being unpleasant. This might not be everyone’s favorite but I love it!
• Very spongy and almondy, almost chewy, hard to put fork in it. Sweet!
• This sample was heavy on almond extract in both cake and frosting which I personally don’t prefer
• Angel food cake consistency. The cake is too spongy to be chantilly, though the frosting is pretty similar to WF chantilly
• The cake was super bouncy and light but not similar to Whole Foods. Tastes more like angel food cake to me. Less flavorful but I like the lightness of it.
• i thought this cake was good but more structured than the OG. The frosting was too meringue-like, not the same texture as OG

Bake with Zoha: an airy, more crumbly cake that melts in your mouth with a whipped cream-esque frosting

Zoha’s recipe is similar to Broma Bakery and I thought they would be an interesting comparison given a few key differences. Both use the same volume of cake flour, sugar, whole eggs, and they both use a mix of butter and oil. However, Zoha uses a higher ratio of butter whereas Broma uses a higher ratio of oil. Zoha also uses buttermilk and the reverse creaming method whereas Broma uses milk and the regular creaming method. They also both use a simple syrup enhanced with a bit of berry jam. Frosting-wise, Zoha uses a high ratio of cream (24 oz) to just 8 oz of mascarpone.

In the end, these differences shook out quite differently. Many tasters noted that Zoha’s cake felt texturally drier (which could have been due to baker’s error but also possibly the higher ratio of butter, which generally leads to a less moist cake crumb than oil). The reverse creaming method also typically leads to a finer, more even crumb that could have read slightly grainier.

This was actually one of my favorite cakes–I thought the flavor and texture felt similar to a box cake mix in the best way, or even the lighter texture of a chiffon cake. Though this does also mean that it didn’t bear a super closer resemblance to the Whole Foods cake. Most tasters (including myself) agreed that the frosting was pretty dissimilar to the Whole Foods frosting since it felt more like a one-note whipped cream–it was hard to discern any of the mascarpone nuance. Not a bad thing if you like whipped cream, but I wanted more of the chantilly vibe. Overall, I’d happily make this cake again but likely paired with Broma Bakery’s frosting.

Taster comments:

• Bottom is a little dense. Fluffy cake texture. Better version of Whole Foods all around.
• Loved the cake, very moist, great mouthfeel. Lackluster frosting flavor. It’s airy, but tasted exclusively of cream. Overall cake had good hydration and the almond flavor was balanced, but wanted more fruit flavor.
• A flavorful cake but with a finer, almost gritty crumb that falls apart. The cream is much, much lighter than prior samples.
• It had almost a box mix taste to it–I think it was the oil? It was much drier than the original, but I felt like the flavor was different.
• Everything about this sample was too soft. The cake was almost mushy, and the frosting had the lightness and taste of whipped cream out of a canister. The cake itself tasted remarkably similar to the control.
• The cake is a bit dry and the frosting tastes like straight whipped cream, no marscapone.
• Frosting was very light and not too sweet, similar to the Whole Foods cake. But cake texture was too crumbly and not very flavorful.

Sugar Spun Run: a tender brown sugar-infused cake with a balanced frosting

Sam’s recipe caught my attention for a few reasons. It was one of the few cakes that used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, it’s the ONLY cake in the bake off that’s completely butter-based (no oil), and it uses a bit of brown sugar along with granulated sugar. Sam also uses the reverse creaming method, buttermilk and uses the least amount of eggs across all the recipes. She suggests a cooked berry filling for the cake (though I just used fresh berries for consistency). The frosting is a 1:1 mascarpone to cream cheese mixture along with cream, powdered sugar and vanilla.

If you tasted these cakes with your eyes closed, I think Sam’s cake would have come quite close flavor-wise to the original cake. However, I think the tiny portion of brown sugar lent this a tan hue that made it look quite different from the original. I also thought this cake had a slightly heavier, denser, shaggier texture compared to the original cake–very tasty, but not quite as melt-in-your-mouth delicate.

The frosting was also felt slightly heavier than the original with several tasters commenting on the “cheesier” flavor (though it was by no means actually cheesy). If you like a bit more density to your frosting, this is a great option. To get slightly closer to the original cake, I’d recommend adding a touch of almond extract to the cake next time.

Taster comments:

• Favorite one! Buttery, moist, the flavor is SO good!!! The crumb is a little more dense but it’s moist and so flavorful!
• Cake is less fluffy. Better flavor than WF cake, worse texture. I liked it a lot!! It was close–very moist, but the frosting almost had a tanginess to it which I didn’t think was true to the original… but very good!
• This sample had notably more textural contrast between the cake and the frosting. The cake was firm but moist, and the frosting had an almost cream cheese-like quality. It did not taste much like the control, but it was far more singular and appealing.
• Texture was a bit grainier almost like cornbread (not a bad thing!). Flavor was more almondy than the original. Whipped cream was very accurate
• Cake texture is good if slightly greasier feeling. Frosting has more of like a cream cheese flavor.
• The cake felt a little too buttery/heavy/rich for this type of cake. I like the slight tang in the frosting, but it felt too heavy for a cake that is supposed to be airy and summery.
• The frosting had a certain tanginess, almost reminiscent of yogurt. The cake was too rich for my taste, I got a huge butter hit from this sample which is not my cup of tea.

Sugar & Sparrow: a moist and slightly more coarse-crumbed cake with a slightly tangy frosting

When it came to picking the finalists for this bake off, I was truly torn between this recipe and Chelsweets. In the end, I went with Sugar & Sparrow because I was more curious to see what a 1:1 ratio of oil and butter would look like. Ratio-wise, Sugar & Sparrow’s recipe is close to a 2/3 amount of the New York Times recipe. Whitney also uses cake flour, egg whites and a mix of butter and oil–but differs from the NYT recipe in using buttermilk instead of half and half.

I felt sure that because this recipe uses egg whites (same as the original NYT recipe!), this cake would be among the closest contenders. However, while this cake shared the same pale hue as the NYT cake, the crumb felt coarser and heavier than the Whole Foods cake. Although this cake uses approximately the same amount of salt and even more vanilla extract than most recipes, it somehow felt a bit bland in comparison. Besides the egg whites, this recipe bears many similarities to Bake with Zoha’s recipe–but with the regular creaming technique, this cake ended up on the moist and heavy end of the spectrum rather than light and airy.

The frosting had one of the lowest ratios of cream to “cheese” (mascarpone and cream cheese) and was accordingly a bit denser and heavier than the original. This was an absolutely fine cake! But it didn’t feel super similar to the original cake and if I had to pick a cake to make again, I’d probably opt for one that uses whole eggs rather than egg whites.

Taster comments:

• Delicious. Soft, moist, slightly bigger crumb. Frosting was the most similar to the Whole Foods cake.
• Well structured cake with soft texture and good icing
• This cream had the cheesiest vibe out of all of them. It’s got that hint of tang that you get from using any kind of “cheese” in a frosting, and I’d say it has a slightly thicker texture to go with it to boot. Not so authentic to the original cake.
• Very moist but not as flavorful in a way. Not almondy enough. Enjoyable texture, but not very similar to the original.
• Lacked flavor / was sort of blandly sweet, frosting was a little oily, cake was a little floury and a little too dense
• Heavy. Frosting was too sweet and felt more like a dense American buttercream. Cake texture is weighed down by the volume of butter. Mouthfeel is unpleasant. Berry flavor can’t compete with the other ingredients in this recipe.
• The cake is forgettable; bland flavoring, middle-of-the-road texture. The frosting is grainy, too rich, and too heavy.

New York Times: a moist, coarse-crumbed, almond-forward cake

If you’re unfamiliar with the lore of the Whole Foods cake, the recipe was originally invented by Chaya Conrad who has now opened her own bakery (Bywater Bakery in New Orleans). She generously shared her recipe with the New York Times, so of course this was my most anticipated recipe to test alongside the original cake.

In comparing this recipe to the other contenders, I found that no recipe really got that close to the original NYT recipe–most either used whole eggs, a different ratio of oil or butter or a different creaming method. The recipe that actually got the closest was Chelsweets’ recipe with egg whites, cake flour, and the same ratio of butter/oil. However, Chelsweets differs in that it uses an extra cup of sugar, sour cream instead of half and half and uses the reverse creaming method. Ultimately, I decided not to include it because I thought a) it might be too sweet and b) it might be too similar.

In the end, this cake bore enough resemblances to the Whole Foods cake to where it felt like they could be cousins. Twins? Not really! While both the Whole Foods cake and this original recipe have almost a cornbread-y vibe to the crumb, the WF cake feels more even and tender while this cake feels more open and coarse. The almond flavor was also way more present in this cake. Personally, I enjoyed this (team never too much almond extract!), though I realize not everyone feels the same way. Meanwhile, I had no complaints about the frosting–though some tasters disagreed, I thought the frosting felt very true to the Whole Foods cake.

Overall, I honestly didn’t find this cake nearly as memorable as the Whole Foods cake. This did make me wonder if they’ve since changed the recipe, or if some kind of weird manufacturing quirks in the Whole Foods kitchens are to blame for the flavor/texture discrepancies. In any case: a solid recipe, especially if you have lots of egg whites to use up.

Taster comments:

• Favorite cake, loved the almond flavor and texture of the crumb 10/10
• This cake is my second favorite – right amount of creaminess and just enough of almond extract coming through, with a pleasantly moist but crumbly texture
• This is one of my favorites out of all of the samples. The texture borders on too moist but I prefer that in a cake, and the cream balances the cake very well. Bravo.
• Both the cake and the frosting were very similar to the control, especially when tasted together. The cake was a bit dry, but the flavor of both the cake and the frosting was very good, both in combination and in isolation.
• Similar to Whole Foods in terms of texture and frosting, but has a more dairy/tangy flavor which I’m not sure if I like. Frosting feels heavier than the others
• Similar to [Sugar and Sparrow], I’m getting a noticeable hit of “cheesiness” in this one too, to the point that I’m starting to suspect that maybe the cream is *supposed* to have mascarpone in it, and I just didn’t register the other samples as such. The most interesting part of the original is that balance between being as light as whipped cream in texture and weight but having the richness of a frosting with more factors to it, and I don’t think this (or [Sugar and Sparrow]) strikes that mystery balance.
• Frosting is too sweet and the butter flavor comes through more than any other frosting. Cake texture is super similar to the original but the flavor is a little different – it’s less vanilla forward and more almond than any other cake.

Simply Recipes: a light, airy, slightly crumbly perfectly sweet and easy cake

It’s not often that I include a doctored box mix recipe, but I had to see if using a white cake mix would get closer to the original cake than a from-scratch cake! This recipe doctors a boxed white cake mix (Simply Recipes recommends Betty Crocker) with a mix of oil and butter, milk instead of water, and a bit of almond and vanilla extract. Meanwhile, the frosting is a 1:1 mix of cream cheese and mascarpone, powdered sugar, cream, vanilla and almond extract. This recipe really recommends macerating the berries for the best flavor. But since I was mainly testing this for the cake/frosting combo, I only used fresh blueberries in the middle.

This cake definitely stood out from the rest thanks to its extremely loose and airy crumb. Imagine a cake (like the Whole Foods cake) where your fork can cut a clean slice through a tight crumb–this is not that. The crumb is so loose, it’s almost crumbly–but it’s not dry! I loved the addition of the almond and vanilla extract in both the cake and frosting.

Honestly, this cake didn’t strike me as all that similar to the Whole Foods cake–it feels like a hybrid of Danielle’s super light angel food cake (minus any eggy resistance) and the tender butter cake crumb of Whole Food’s cake. However, it was undeniably delicious and I can see how tasters would have voted the overall vibe (light, sweet cake + light and creamy frosting) to be similar to the original Whole Foods cake. This is a great recipe if you just need a bit of a shortcut to make a gorgeous Berry Chantilly cake!

Taster comments:

• This is like an upgraded, homemade version of the Whole Foods cake. I think if you’re going for a clone, this is the recipe you should follow. My critiques of this are similar to the qualms I have with the whole foods cake–it’s too sweet for my taste.
• Our favorite!!!! Was not exactly like WF but we liked this better, super moist, not so sweet. Loved the cream ratio and fruit
• Closest replica to WFM version. Cake was less tight but held its structure well. Frosting was flat. But the overall bite was very balanced between fruit, frosting, and cake. Structurally resembled angel food cake with a sharper bite and the use of egg whites was clear. Butter was not a top note, which was refreshing after eating [Sugar and Sparrow] and also indicates a faithful attempt to mimic WFM.
• I think this one was the airiest without being overly moist (tbh all of them were better than the Whole Foods one). Right level of sweetness but the frosting falls a bit flat.
• The only cake that actually seemed to have a dry crumb (though not necessarily “not moist”) — crumbly and fine, like an actual grocery store cake, though not really like Whole Foods’ cake. Not a ton of flavor in the cake. The cream in this one doesn’t feel whipped at all compared to the earliest samples.
• Did not like flavor or sandy texture of cake, was like boxed angel food cake

Modern Honey: a tender, flavorful and plush yellow cake

Modern Honey stood out for its use of instant vanilla pudding mix. I was curious to see if this would be the key to achieving a storebought-like cake texture! This was one of three recipes that used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. Melissa uses the same ratio of fat (1 cup butter, 2 tbsp oil) as the New York Times original recipe, but she uses whole eggs vs. the egg whites of the original version. The recipe offers whole milk or buttermilk as options–I used buttermilk.

The first thing I noticed was the color: this cake was distinctly more yellow than the other recipes, likely thanks to the whole eggs along with the instant pudding mix. This cake immediately stood out to me during the tasting for its plush texture and great flavor. While some other cakes had a blander sweetness, this one felt a little more complex and somehow true to the Whole Foods cake (was it the instant pudding??).

Melissa also offers the option to use 16 oz of cream cheese OR mascarpone in the frosting, and I went with a mix of half cream cheese, half mascarpone. This frosting felt slightly heavier than the original Whole Foods cake, but the flavor felt similar enough.

Once again, I have to say this cake doesn’t bear the strongest resemblance to the original cake (the cake itself is yellower and more flavorful!), but I can see how tasters rated the cake texture and overall effect of the cake and frosting together to be similar. This is an excellent cake that I’d happily make again (I’d be curious to pair the cake with a chocolate frosting for a classic birthday cake)!

Taster comments:

• This one I think has been the closest so far! There’s a certain flavor that it captures that is perfect. The cake is drier though than the OG.
• Cream tastes right, good balance of airiness and flavor! The cake was a really interesting flavor – almost salty or acidic (definitely more nuanced than the berry chantilly). Melts in the mouth like the original.
• Very rich and creamy frosting that was slightly denser and sweeter than the Whole Foods one but very good. The cake itself had good vanilla flavoring and was moist throughout.
• Frosting has some cream cheese? Overall tastes more like a classic vanilla cake than the lighter chantilly cake. Love the jam layer!!!
• This was the most yellow cake. Looks like used yolks and no whites? Nice pound cake flavor. Liked the cake part a lot but not the same as Whole Foods
• I really like this cake. I wouldn’t say it’s that similar to Whole Foods because the crumb is much denser and tighter but it’s still moist and full of flavor. I would be happy with this cake as a standalone cake and not compared to the WF berry chantilly.
• The cake tasted more like a boxed yellow cake with cream cheese icing than the Whole Foods sample.

Broma Bakery: a moist, close-crumbed cake and light, slightly tangy frosting that feels almost identical to the Whole Foods cake

As you can read above, Broma Bakery’s recipe is similar to Bake with Zoha with a few key differences (butter to oil ratio, milk instead of buttermilk, regular creaming instead of reverse creaming). I appreciated the ease of making the berry simple syrup (just water, sugar and jam [I omitted the lemon zest for consistency with other cakes]) in the microwave, which seemed to work just as well as other stovetop recipes. The main difference between this cake and Zoha’s was the frosting. Broma Bakery uses the same amount of mascarpone and cream, but adds 4 oz of cream cheese, almond extract and salt. Plus, Sarah uses the more standard powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar.

I probably went back and forth between this cake and the Whole Foods cake no less than one million times trying to discern the difference. They are VERY similar. The cake flavor? Virtually identical. The cake crumb has just a slight density and moisture that the Whole Food cake lacks–Whole Foods gives more of the airiness of a cake mix vibe vs. Broma Bakery leans towards the density of a homemade cake. I also could barely tell a difference in the frosting flavor and though there was a slightly difference in the frosting texture (Whole Foods is slightly lighter), you’ll only notice if you go nit-picking, as I did.

Unbelievable job to the Broma Bakery team–this cake is an EXCELLENT duplicate of the original Berry Chantilly cake and so delicious! We should all be so happy to have this recipe in our back pocket. I’ve already made it again!

Taster comments:

• Most similar to Whole Foods but tasted more like jam. The texture was the the best of the bunch!
• Very similar to the control but more moist and a bit richer. Texture was an improved version of Whole Foods. I preferred this one.
• The frosting felt a little lighter and not quite as tangy. But the cake flavor and crumb structure is so close!! It almost feels more moist.
• This sample was less overtly sweet and tasted more natural than the control sample, but there was a significant similarity in the taste of the frosting.
• Airy cake with a nice crumb and cream that wasn’t too sweet or heavy. Pleasantly light but not too dry.
• Slightly denser crumb – liked how moist it was, had a hint of almond extract flavor that was different from the original. Frosting is really close to the original.

Recommendations

• Erika’s picks: Broma Bakery, Modern Honey, Bake with Zoha
• Crowd favorite + closest dupe for the original: Broma Bakery
• Best for a light and fresh option: Danielle Sepsy
• Best if you’re in a time crunch: Simply Recipes
• Best true yellow cake: Modern Honey
• Best for using egg whites: New York Times, Sugar & Sparrow, Simply Recipes