For the record I am blessed to have the best mother-in-law on the planet! In all the years I have known her I have never heard her utter an unkind word about anyone. Her positive, loving energy and beautiful smile lights up a room! She lived through the depression, WWII, and raised seven kids. Her song faith in God got here through many hardships. Family means everything to her! So when the family put me in charge of the birthday cake I wanted to make something as special as she is. Something made with her all her favorite flavors.
Her favorite foods in the whole wide world? Strawberries and whipped cream! So I came up with this delectable Chantilly cake just for her. Everyone at the party enjoyed not one, but two servings! It was a complete hit! Light and refreshing and not overly sweet, it’s sheer perfection in every delectable bite!!!
This cake starts with a boxed cake mix. You can use a basic white cake mix, but if you can find a vanilla flavored white cake use that for a bit more vanilla flavor. You could also bake up a white cake from scratch if you are so inclined, but the boxed cake bakes up nice and fluffy and it’s the perfect base for this cake.
Prepare the cake as instructed on the box and bake it up in 2-nine inch round cake pans according to the directions on the box.
Allow cake rounds to cool completely.
Prepare the whipped cream frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip softened cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy and there are no lumps.
Set mixer to low speed and add the heavy whipping cream. Gradually increase speed and beat until well combined and frosting is fluffy and forms soft peaks.
TIP: Be sure to beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth and creamy before adding the whipped cream. This ensures you have a smooth, lump free, creamy frosting. Otherwise you will end up with a lumpy frosting. It’s still delicious but it will have little lumps of cream cheese through out. Don’t ask me how I know this.
Set frosting aside while you assemble the cake.
Assemble the cake:
Place one cake round on a platter.
Spread a generous layer of lemon curd onto the the cake.
TIP: Trader Joe’s sells a lovely Lemon Curd, it’s what I used for this cake, and it’s delicious. It has just the right amount of tang and it’s not overly sweet. It’s perfect for this cake!
Top the lemon curd with about a ⅓ of the whipped cream frosting, spreading it out in an even layer. You can be quite generous with the frosting, the recipe makes a generous amount.
Top with a layer of sliced strawberries. (Reserve about half of the prettiest strawberry slices to use as a garnish for the top of the cake).
Place the second cake round on top
Frost the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream frosting.
Now comes the fun part that makes this Chantilly Cake so very pretty and perfect for a special occasion, like a 96th birthday party celebration.
Place sliced strawberries on top of the cake in an overlapping circle nestling the cut edges into the whipped cream frosting. Start with a circle about 2 inches from the edge of the cake, with the points of the strawberry slices facing outwards and the cut edges towards the center. Add another circle overlapping the first circle to cover the cut edges of the first circle. Continue this, working your way towards the center overlapping the sliced strawberries to form a large flower.
TIP: Garnish with a sprig of mint and add a whole strawberry in the center of the strawberry flower if desired.
Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.
Everyone was floored when they found out how easy it is to make this cake. I think I may have started a birthday cake tradition. Here’s to many more birthday celebrations with my lovely mother-in-law. May the new year bring her many blessing and endless opportunities to share joy and laughter with her family and friends! Happy Birthday Marie, we all love you so very, very much!
Lemon Berry Chantilly Cake
Equipment
- 2 nine inch round cake pans
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix, plus ingredients listed on the box needed to make the cake
- ½ cup lemon curd
- 1 quart strawberries, sliced
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
- Prepare and bake vanilla cake in 2-nine inch round cake pans according to the directions on the box.
- Allow cake rounds to cool completely.
Prepare whipped cream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip softened cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
- Set mixer to low speed and add heavy whipping cream. Increase speed and beat until well combined and frosting is fluffy and forms peaks.
- Set aside.
Assemble Cake:
- Place one cake round on a platter.
- Spread a generous layer of lemon curd onto the the cake.
- Top with a layer of sliced strawberries. (Reserve half the strawberries to use as a garnish for the top of the cake).
- Top with about a ⅓ of the whipped cream frosting, spreading it out in an even layer over the strawberries.
- Place the second cake round on top.
- Frost the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream frosting.
- Place sliced strawberries on top of the cake in an overlapping circle nestling them into the whipped cream. Start with a circle towards the outside edge along the top of the cake and work your way towards the center overlapping the sliced strawberries to form a large flower. Place a sprig of mint and a whole strawberry in the center of the strawberry flower.
- Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.
Did You Make This?
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The Lord our God is one Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
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