Where to get the best berry Chantilly cake in New Orleans
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New Orleans has had a long love affair with berry Chantilly cake, and we wanted to cut through the layers to decide which version reigns supreme.
Why it matters: Whole Foods rocked the cake world this week with news it was changing the recipe for its berry Chantilly slices. It quickly reversed that decision after customer uproar.
The big picture: Baker Chaya Conrad created the original recipe for Whole Foods about 20 years ago when she worked at the Uptown New Orleans store.
- She also created Rouses' berry Gentilly cake, an extremely close sibling.
- And when she opened Bywater Bakery in 2017, she began selling several versions of it there, too.
- All three are made with layers of cake, Chantilly cream frosting and fresh berries.
Friction point: Whole Foods swapped the fresh fruit for "fruit compote" in its slices in its short-lived attempt at standardization.
- It was in the process of getting the classic cake slices back in stores this week, a spokesperson told Axios.
Zoom in: Whole Foods' decision brought out a lot of Chantilly-flavored feelings this week, so we decided to try slices of each popular version sold in New Orleans.
- Here's what we liked and what we didn't.
Caveat: This was cake science. We did what we would do as customers — bought a slice from each place and decided if we liked it.
Whole Foods
We tried two Whole Foods offerings. First was a slice ($4.49) of the berry Chantilly cake at Whole Foods in Metairie.
- But even commercial bakeries can suffer from the same issues we do at home, so the slice we nabbed was missing blueberries because, a baker told us, they ran out.
- They also said the slice we got was one of the newly-introduced (and rapidly-canceled) versions.
Next, we tried the Uptown location.
- They didn't have any slices after pulling the new ones off shelves, so we bought a baby berry Chantilly cake ($13.99) and sliced into that.
Our review: Metairie's slice and Uptown's baby cake were very different.
- The pre-sliced yellow cake had two layers with strawberries, raspberries and butter-forward frosting sandwiched between. It wasn't compote, but it wasn't the usual berry Chantilly. More like strawberry shortcake with raspberries added.
- The three-layer baby cake was pretty, but dry, and only had blueberries and frosting inside.
Bywater Bakery
This slice ($6) from Conrad's bakery was a showstopper. It was tall, sturdy enough to remove from the box without crumbling and decorated with gold-dusted berries.
- It's also the one that passers-by in Whole Foods' Uptown store stopped to ask us about. Awkward!
Zoom in: Conrad's had a busy few days. In addition to Axios' reporting, the New York Times did a story.
- The controversy has been good for business. By 11am Friday, the shop was almost sold out of her signature slices.
Our review: This slice was pretty and it tasted great. The creamy frosting was abundant and dotted with fresh berries.
Rouses Markets
The slices ($4.99) at the Rouses Market location on Tchoupitoulas looked a little more beat up in the case than those from other bakeries.
Our review: The cake layers looked and tasted more like angel food cake rather than a traditional white cake.
- But unfortunately, the blueberries were overpoweringly bitter, and the strawberries tasted off.
Our favorite
Bywater Bakery's cake was easily our favorite.
- It was also the most expensive — but this is a sweet example of how you get what you pay for.
📣 Who makes your favorite berry Chantilly cake? Tell us at [email protected].