Dupe or Don’t: Walmart’s Berry Chantilly Cake

When we came up with our Dupe or Don’t series, the point was to find out whether the grocery store items everyone claims are identical to pricier products actually qualify as dupes. For instance, it turns out that Kirkland’s Sous Vide Egg Bites are a pretty good stand-in for Starbuck’s Back and Gruyere Egg Bites if you don’t want to spend upwards of five bucks on breakfast every day. 

When I saw that Walmart makes a Berry Chantilly Cake it sells by the slice, I was dying to find out whether the big box store’s take could capture the transcendent beauty of Whole Foods’ Berry Chantilly Cake. If you’ve never had Whole Foods’ Berry Chantilly cake, ya gotta. It’s an institution for a reason. 

Is Walmart’s Berry Chantilly Cake a dupe for Whole Foods’ Berry Chantilly Cake?

Walmart’s slices of Berry Chantilly Cake have three layers of a nice, light vanilla sponge cake, three layers of whipped cream frosting, and two layers of a mixed berry filling, which is sort of like a jam. The whole thing is very light and lovely, and if I’d never had Whole Foods’ version, I’d think this was pretty great! 

Whole Foods, on the other hand, has two thicker layers of vanilla sponge, and two thicker layers of whipped cream, one on top and one between the sponge. The layer of whipped cream that’s between the sponge is studded with fresh, delicious, ripe berries—strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. It’s all so fresh and light. A perfect dessert for one, although I was generous and shared my slice with two friends. 

Verdict: Not a dupe!

The craziest thing about this experiment that I didn’t realize until I’d actually purchased both: Walmart’s Berry Chantilly Cake slices are actually MORE EXPENSIVE than Whole Foods’ ($4.42 vs. $3.75). It’s not a dramatic difference, but, yeah, I’m going to g’head and pay less for the better cake with actual berries.