A chocolate cake crowned with Hawaii's beloved chantilly frosting — a cooked, caramel-colored custard of butter, evaporated milk, egg yolks, and sugar, simmered until thick. Despite the French name, it has nothing to do with French whipped chantilly cream: it is rich, buttery, and closer to a German-chocolate-cake icing. The classic Liliha-style cake leaves out the coconut and nuts, though some versions add them.
Despite the French name, Hawaii's chantilly cake has nothing to do with airy whipped cream, and no one is certain how the name became attached to it. It was made famous in the early 1950s by Liliha Bakery, the family business Roy and Koo Takakuwa opened in 1950 as a tiny bread shop on Liliha Street in Honolulu; they moved to the current Kūʻākini Street location in 1961 but kept the name. Their chantilly frosting is essentially a German-chocolate-cake icing reimagined — a cooked custard of egg yolks, sugar, butter, and evaporated milk simmered until thick and caramel-toned, but, in the classic version, without the coconut and pecans. Spread over a moist chocolate cake, it became one of the bakery's signature items (the same frosting also defines its famous Coco Puff) and a fixture at island birthdays and graduations, copied by home bakers across Hawaii ever since. Dee Lite Bakery, run by Herbert Matsuba, is also credited with popularizing the cake around the 1960s, though that bakery was better known for its guava chiffon.
Deep, moist chocolate cake under a frosting that tastes like buttery caramel custard — rich and toffee-sweet, nothing like the lightness the French name suggests. It is old-fashioned and decadent, far denser than its delicate namesake implies. In versions that include them, chewy coconut and toasted nuts add texture.
The frosting is a stovetop custard: egg yolks and evaporated milk are gently cooked so the yolk proteins thicken the mixture, while the milk's sugars lightly caramelize for color and a toffee note. Cooking low and stirring constantly for about twelve minutes keeps the yolks from curdling, and cooling lets the butter firm the custard into a spreadable, fudgy frosting that is then spread thick over the chocolate cake. It is built exactly like a German-chocolate frosting, minus the coconut and pecans in the classic version.
Variations
Liliha Bakery-style chocolate cake with plain (nut-free) frosting is the classic; the cake base can also be yellow or chiffon. Nut versions fold coconut plus macadamia nuts or walnuts into the frosting, closer to German chocolate cake. Frosting cooked longer sets fudgier; there are also cupcake versions and coffee or lilikoʻi (passion-fruit) variations.
On the Palate
Where Chantilly Cake Hawaiian sits in the Hawaiian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
8 steps · 30 min
- 140 min
Bake a moist chocolate cake in two layers and let them cool completely before frosting.
- 25 min
For the chantilly, whisk together evaporated milk, sugar, and egg yolks in a heavy saucepan.
- 310 min
Add butter and a pinch of salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly so the yolks do not scramble.
Watch outKeep stirring and never let it come to a simmer — the yolks scramble in seconds if the heat runs high, and a lumpy frosting can't be saved.
- 410 min
Continue cooking until the mixture thickens to a pourable custard and turns a warm caramel color, then stir in vanilla.
Watch outPull it when it coats the back of a spoon and turns warm caramel-tan — thicker than cream but still pourable; overcook and it goes fudgy and grainy.
- 55 min
Fold in shredded coconut and chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts off the heat.
- 620 min
Let the frosting cool, stirring occasionally, until it is thick and spreadable.
Watch outLet it cool until it holds a soft ridge when you drag the spoon through — too warm and it slides off the cake, too cold and it tears the crumb.
- 710 min
Spread the chantilly generously between the layers and over the top and sides.
- 830 min
Chill briefly to set, then slice; the frosting should be soft, rich, and slightly gooey.
