Strawberry Olive Oil Cake
/The simplest of snack cakes—a soft sour cream and olive oil cake studded with sweet, fresh strawberries.
In case you’ve missed it, I have spent the last month harping on and on about the beautiful, perfect strawberries that I picked at a local farm. I filled a flat with warm summer berries, ate a significant number on the drive home, and then I got to work. I made strawberry preserves, fresh strawberry ice cream, and this cake.
This was a whim recipe. I had planned on the preserves and ice cream, but quickly realized that I still had a bounty of berries, so I thumbed through Yossy Arefi’s Snacking Cakes to see if I could riff on one of her recipes. This cake is as simple as it gets—extra moist from the olive oil and sour cream, studded with a layer of sweet berries. We spent a few days cutting off a little sliver every time we walked through the kitchen. It’s the perfect, low-effort summer cake.
how to make a strawberry olive oil snack cake
Guys, this is truly the easiest cake around. You only need a handful of ingredients (most of which you probably have on hand), it only takes one bowl, and the adaptations are endless.
You’ll need:
Sugar: Granulated sugar for sweetness, plus a little more to create a crunchy layer on top of the cake. You can play with demerara or turbinado sugar for the topping for an extra crunch.
Eggs: Two large eggs help provide both moisture and structure for this recipe.
Sour Cream: I love baking with sour cream because it adds tenderness, flavor, and density to my cakes. You can sub in greek yogurt, ricotta, or even créme fraîche if you’re feeling fancy.
Olive Oil: You want a good grassy olive oil for this cake. The olive oil flavor pairs so well with the strawberries, and since it’s an oil-based cake, you know it will be extra moist.
Vanilla: I used the seeds scraped from a vanilla bean for this recipe, but you could use vanilla bean powder, paste, extract.
Flour: Just simple all purpose flour, though if you’re feeling experimental, subbing in 25% spelt flour would be nutty and lovely.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Baking powder is used for leavening here, while the baking soda helps to counteract the acidity of the sour cream. If you’re interested in learning more about the difference between the two—read this.
Strawberries: The real star of the show. I used warm, freshly picked berries for this recipe because the flavor will really shine. Slice them thinly to prevent sogginess, or sub in black, blue, or raspberries.
Strawberry Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar, plus 2 tsp for sprinkling
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (220 g) sour cream
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cup (160 g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 160 g strawberries, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a 9" cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until frothy.
- Add the sour cream, olive oil, and vanilla bean seeds and whisk again until smooth and homogenized.
- Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk again until just incorporated and no flour streaks remain.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and top with the sliced strawberries. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tsp of sugar and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top of the cake is deeply golden brown and the center is set.
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
