Whole Foods changed its Berry Chantilly by-the-slice recipe — devoted fans got them to change it back within a week

It turns out, sometimes bullying works.

Following a deluge of comments, taste tests, and frankly, absolute meltdowns on TikTok, Whole Foods Market announced this week it would backtrack on a decision to modify a cult favorite cake flavor.

News that the grocery chain’s Berry Chantilly Cake — a top-seller for decades — was undergoing a makeover rattled shoppers as unofficial word spread on TikTok over the last week.

Now, as quickly as the new recipe has started hitting shelves, Whole Foods has announced it would reverse its efforts.

Here’s the icing on the cake and everything else you need to know about the short-lived culinary drama.

Berry Chantilly Cake is a self-described “cult favorite,” according to the grocery chain. It’s a light sponge cake layered with an almond-scented mascarpone and cream frosting finished with fresh berries on top and between the layers.

The cake is sold whole or by the slice. Using a recipe created by New Orleans baker Chaya Conrad 20 years ago, the cake has remained largely unchanged.

Whole Foods says it’s the chain’s “best-selling cake flavor west of the Mississippi River.” It’s sparked tons of copycat recipes and a devoted fandom along the way.

News that things were changing initially came from a TikToker named Lisa who goes by @mylegalera.

In her now-viral video, Lisa said she received “the worst news ever” when she was told by a Whole Foods bakery employee that the stores were going to alter the recipe for the Berry Chantilly Cake sold by the slice.

The employee added that the slices would be delivered frozen and would have a compote filling in the middle instead of fresh fruit. It would also cost more.

Whole Foods confirmed the change with media outlets and on social media, emphasizing it was only impacting cake sold by the slice and that the whole cake recipe would remain unchanged.

“Previously, our Berry Chantilly by-the-slice cake program varied by store location,” Whole Foods said in a statement. “We recently aligned the flavor profile, size, packaging, and price so customers will have the same high-quality experience in each of our stores.”

In a TikTok comment, the company added, “We’ve recently updated our by-the-slice cake program. While the slices look different, they maintain the signature almond flavor and fluffy texture that you know and love from the OG.”

Still, even if the whole cakes were safe, fans were not happy about the change in slices.

With a firestorm of backlash and devastation because cake is serious business!

On TikTok and other social media platforms, content creators conducted taste tests of the new by-the-slice recipe, and it wasn’t a hit. “It tastes like raspberry jam-flavored cleaning product,” one dismayed taste tester said.

Others filmed themselves telling partners and loved ones that the flavor was changing, like Cora and Jared Breilein, who revealed they share a slice of the cake together weekly.

The switch has prompted cries of agony (recent unrelated posts from Whole Foods’ TikTok and Instagram accounts have been spammed with requests to revert back to the original recipe).

And, as is the case with most stories on the internet, misinformation also spread. There was a subset of fans who falsely interpreted the news as Whole Foods discontinuing the Berry Chantilly Cake flavor altogether (that’s not happening).

Still, the outcry for change has prompted the company to backtrack on its changes now.

Nope, Monday afternoon, the grocery chain said it was reversing its decision to change the slice formula.

“Due to feedback, we’re bringing back single slices of the classic Chantilly Cake customers know and love,” Whole Foods said in a TikTok comment.

Whole Foods also confirmed the decision with The Inquirer and said the single slices will go back to the way they were by the end of the week.

“We recently introduced a new by-the-slice item that was different from the iconic Berry Chantilly Cakes sold in our bakery cases. Based on feedback from our customers, we will reintroduce single slices of the Berry Chantilly Cake that are the same as the classic our customers know and love,” a spokesperson told The Inquirer.