Chantilly Berry Cake

This was my mom’s birthday cake that I baked completely from scratch: A Berry Chantilly Cake.

Series: Cakes for Others

We were in North Carolina, driving down to the Outer Banks, and on the way, there were a few farmers' markets.

We stopped at one of the bigger ones, and since her birthday is in May, the strawberries were strawberrying. They were gorgeous, sweet, and ready to be used for her cake.

I layered fresh strawberry slices in the middle and all around the cake. My sister and I also made little strawberry roses together, which I thought was such a beautiful touch.

Mom happily holding the cake

It’s similar to the Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake, but simpler. Just berries and a vanilla sponge. I like doing a vanilla sponge because it lets the fruit speak.

I did bake it a little longer than I should have, and I refrigerated it a bit too much. When my dad and sister made fun of it and said it tasted like a Popeyes biscuit, I wanted to throw myself out the window. But I persisted.

The next day, I disassembled the cake and put it into a glass container. I mixed almond milk with a little honey and poured it over the sponge. Then I added fresh whipped cream on top and basically turned it into a tres leches Victoria sponge cake.

Filming my first video ever, with my sister

And it worked beautifully. It tasted amazing. The cake just needed a little moisture. If you can’t stand that word, sorry!

In terms of recipes, I used the Berry Chantilly cake recipe from Preppy Kitchen, and then my own whipped cream frosting recipe.