Chantilly Frosting Recipe

This Chantilly frosting is whipped heavy cream stabilized with mascarpone, sweetened with powdered sugar and vanilla, with an optional spoon of honey. It takes about 15 minutes and makes enough to fill and frost one 8 inch two layer cake or pipe 12 cupcakes.

The mascarpone is what lets it hold a piped swirl for hours, where plain whipped cream would slump. It is the soft, barely sweet frosting you find on a berry Chantilly cake, and you can make it with cream cheese if that is what is in your fridge.

Chantilly Cream vs Chantilly Frosting

In French baking, crème Chantilly is just cream whipped with sugar and vanilla. It is lovely on a slice of pie, but on a cake it weeps and sags within an hour or two. Nothing holds the air in.

Chantilly frosting, the American bakery version, adds mascarpone or cream cheese. The extra fat firms the foam, so it spreads between layers, stays put on the sides and pipes clean ridges. So yes, Chantilly cream can be used as frosting, but only once it has that cheese in it.

The Cream to Mascarpone Ratio

The recipe uses 1½ cups very cold heavy whipping cream to 8 ounces of cold mascarpone, which works out to about 3 parts cream to 2 parts mascarpone by volume. Add ½ cup sifted powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Honey or sweetened condensed milk, 1 to 2 tablespoons, is optional and adds a rounder sweetness. I lean toward honey when the cake has fruit in it.

Use cream with at least 36% fat. Lighter cream collapses. Measure the powdered sugar first and then sift it, so you get exactly ½ cup with no lumps hiding in the cream.

For a three layer cake or tall piped swirls, make 1½ batches: 2¼ cups cream, 12 ounces mascarpone, ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla.

Mascarpone or Cream Cheese?

Mascarpone tastes like thick sweet cream, so the frosting stays mild and lets the fruit, the vanilla sponge and whatever filling you choose do the talking. Full fat cream cheese works too, and it gives a tangier frosting that sits closer to a light cream cheese icing and stays a touch softer on the sides of the cake.

If you swap, use block cream cheese, not the spreadable tub kind, which holds more water. Beat it on its own until there are no lumps at all before any cream goes in, because cold cream will not smooth out lumps that are already there. For a richer, cheese forward version, my mascarpone frosting uses more mascarpone and less cream.

Soft Peaks First, Then Stiff

Chill the bowl and beaters for 10 to 15 minutes. Metal stays coldest. Cold fat traps air. Warm cream may never get past soft peaks.

Beat the mascarpone on low for about 30 seconds, only until it looks smooth. With the mixer still on low, pour in the cold cream in a slow stream so the mascarpone loosens evenly. Then raise the speed to medium high. In 2 to 3 minutes you will have soft peaks: the cream holds a shape but the tip folds over when you lift the beater.

Now add the powdered sugar, vanilla and the honey or condensed milk if you are using it. Keep whipping. Do not walk away now. You want stiff peaks that stand straight up and still look glossy. The whole thing takes about 4 to 5 minutes.

Stop the moment it looks like the photo above. If the surface turns matte and slightly ridged, you are seconds away from grainy. Let it sit for 5 minutes before piping; it firms up a little and holds sharper lines.

Grainy, Runny or Split: How to Save It

• Grainy or curdled: it was whipped a little too far, or the mascarpone was overbeaten at the start. Fold in 2 to 3 tablespoons of cold cream by hand with a spatula. A mixer only makes it worse.
• Soft and runny: the cream or bowl was not cold enough. Chill the whole bowl for 15 minutes, then whip again briefly.
• Separated and watery: it went well past stiff peaks. Gentle folding sometimes brings it back. If butter-like bits remain, start a new batch.
• Small white lumps: the cheese went in cold and was not smooth before the cream. Press the frosting through a fine sieve, or beat the next batch of cheese longer first.
• Flat taste: add a pinch more vanilla, or use the honey next time.

This frosting does not like heat. For an outdoor party in summer, a Swiss meringue buttercream holds up far better.

Chocolate, Lemon and Coffee Versions

For chocolate, sift 1 tablespoon cocoa powder together with the powdered sugar so it does not clump in the cold cream. For almond, use 1 teaspoon almond extract in place of half the vanilla. For lemon, fold in 1 tablespoon finely grated zest and a few drops of juice at the end, which is lovely with berries.

For a coffee version, dissolve 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder in the vanilla before adding it. Stirred in dry, it leaves dark specks through the white frosting.

Where This Frosting Shines

Spread it between vanilla layers with sliced strawberries and blueberries, as on the Chantilly cake, or use it on a strawberry shortcake cake with mascarpone. Pipe it onto cupcakes with a large star tip, fill lemon cream puffs, or spoon it over scones and shortcakes.

It also pairs well with a fruit layer. A thin spread of berry cake filling inside a ring of this frosting is the bakery way to build a berry cake that slices cleanly.

Making It Ahead and Keeping a Frosted Cake

The frosting keeps in a covered bowl in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Before using it, whisk it by hand for a few seconds to bring back the volume. Do not freeze it. Thawed, it turns grainy and weeps.

Once a cake is frosted, keep it in the fridge and take it out about 30 minutes before serving. Out of the fridge it holds its shape for 1 to 2 hours, less on a warm day.

Short Answers About Chantilly Frosting

What is Chantilly frosting made of?

Heavy whipping cream, mascarpone, powdered sugar and vanilla, with optional honey or sweetened condensed milk. This recipe uses 1½ cups cream, 8 ounces mascarpone, ½ cup powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Is Chantilly frosting a buttercream?

No. There is no butter in it, which is why it is so light. If you want a butter based frosting with a similar soft sweetness, try Russian buttercream.

Can I make Chantilly frosting without mascarpone?

Yes, use full fat block cream cheese, the same 8 ounces. Without any cheese it becomes plain whipped cream frosting, which is lighter but softens much sooner on a cake.

Is Chantilly frosting stable enough to pipe?

Yes. Whipped to stiff, glossy peaks and rested for 5 minutes, it pipes sharp stars and rosettes and holds them in the fridge.