A subtly sweet olive oil and fresh strawberry cake with creamy ricotta, textured cornmeal, and a tangy balsamic glaze! Very easy to make and apropos for any time of day.
Why this Recipe Works
- Simple to make! Quickly & easily whip up the cake batter with just 2 bowls and 1 whisk.
- All the Flavors! Fruity olive oil, creamy ricotta, textured cornmeal, and tangy balsamic pair with sweet and juicy strawberries.
- The balsamic intensifies the flavor of the strawberries and brings out their sweetness.
- Apropos of any time of day! Eat this cake with your morning coffee, afternoon tea, post dinner dessert or as a midnight snack.
The ask: develop a seasonal summer recipe highlighting a clients olive oil and balsamic vinegar glaze.
Balsamic vinegar and olive oil make a classic vinaigrette. Balsamic vinegar and strawberries are a classic pairing. Let’s combine all 3 in a cake!
This not subtly sweet and very moist cake with intriguing tartness is perfect for summer!
Baking with Olive Oil
Olive oil, perhaps more commonly associated more with savory food, provides a wonderful moisture, tenderness, and richness baked goods. It’s slightly savory and intensely fruity notes lends appealing complexity to our cake.
Baking with olive oil instead of butter both simplifies and expedites the baking process: there’s no waiting for the butter to come to room temp then beating it with sugar.
In this recipe simply whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl, whisk the wet ingredients in another, then combine and the cake batter is done.
The olive oil is distinct enough to make a difference but subtle enough that it’s not overpowering.
How to Make this Olive Oil Cake
- Whisk all the dry ingredients in a bowl
- Whisk all the wet ingredients in another bowl
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
- Slice the strawberries and mix them with the balsamic glaze
- Fold in 1/3 of the strawberries into the cake batter
- Pour batter in a skillet or cake pan
- Top batter with remaining strawberries. A pattern can make it look extra fancy but go with whatever design you want (or none at all). Add fresh herbs, such as thyme, basil, mint or lavender (optional).
- Bake & enjoy.
pre-oven post-oven
No strawberries? No problem! This cake is too damn good to be limited to strawberry season. Try it with other berries, figs, stone fruits or grapes.
Cooks Tips
- When possible, buy local and organic strawberries.
- Choose a medium-ground cornmeal for this recipe (a coarser grind will give the cake a gritty texture).
- Keep in mind the strawberries will shrink and sink slightly during baking.
- Serving suggestions: vanilla ice cream, yogurt, additional ricotta and/or additional strawberries.
Other Strawebrry-licious Recipes
- Roasted Strawberries
- Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Strawberry Snack Cake
- Strawberry Salsa
- Strawberry Gazpacho
- Strawberry Salad with Burrata
Have ya tried this recipe? I’d love to hear about it and see it too! Please leave a comment below and take a pic and tag it on Instagram with @DanielaGerson. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to see more colorfully delicious food and awesome adventures!
Let’s make waves in the kitchen!
Olive Oil and Fresh Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
For the Olive Oil Cake:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup ricotta
- 1 cup Filippo Berio organic extra virgin olive oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the Balsamic Glazed Strawberries:
- 2 cups strawberries
- ½ cup Filippo Berio classic balsamic glaze
- Handful of fresh herbs such as thyme basil, mint or lavender
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat bottom and sides of an 9-inch pan or cast iron skillet with a drizzle of olive oil.
- In a bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, both sugars, baking powder, and salt together. In another bowl, whisk the olive oil, ricotta, eggs, and vanilla together. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and whisk until just combined.
- Slice the strawberries and mix them with the balsamic glaze. Fold in 1/3 of the strawberries into the cake batter with a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and arrange remaining strawberries on top of batter. Add fresh herbs (optional).
- Bake until top is golden brown, center is firm, and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes.
- Servings suggestions: vanilla ice cream, yogurt or more ricotta and/or more fresh balsamic glazes strawberries.
Notes
- When possible, buy local and organic strawberries.
- Choose a medium-ground cornmeal for this recipe (a coarser grind will give the cake a gritty texture).
- Keep in mind the strawberries will shrink and sink slightly during baking.
- Serving suggestions: vanilla ice cream, yogurt, additional ricotta and/or additional strawberries.
Wowwww such a gorgeous cake!!! Me encanto comerlo :)!!! The images are super gorgeous!!! Love the little hands!🍓🍓🍓
Hehehe you are so cute! Anik made my food pics so much better! Loved creating this campaign :).🍓💜😘
This one is my 2020 favorite of Daniela's creations for many reasons, to name 2: 1) never in my life I would have thought of baking to show what can be done with great olive oil and balsamic vinagar, 2) When you look closely at the hands carrying the amazing creation you can tell that there are 20-30 years in between the ages of those hands telling us that this is an amazing dessert of all ages.
Hehehe your comments is too cute! Thank you so much for the super sweet feedback! I really love your comments and appreciate it :)!
Hi there, this looks gorgeous and I can’t wait to make it. i was wondering what size cake pan to use?
Hi Faye and I'll update the recipe to specify a 9-inch cake pan! So stoked to hear you're making this :). 8-inch would work as well but it would just take a bit more time to cook. Let me know how ya like it please :)!
I followed the recipe exactly and it was AMAZING! This will definitely be in the rotation going forward. Love the flavor combination!
So super stoked to hear that Leah! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this sweet feedback and happy to hear the strawberry cake will be on your rotation :)!
This is my first olive oil cake and it was fantastic! I used basil, mint and thyme on top with the strawberries and the subtle flavor from the herbs was perfection. As written this recipe is wonderful.
Thanks so much for the super sweet feedback Jill! I really appreciate and am so happy to hear it was fantastic! Your toppings sound delectable :).
Can you substitute the ricotta with something else? Can’t wait to try this!
Sure! You can sub the ricotta with greek yogurt, creme fraiche, cottage cheese, cream cheese and/or soft tofu. So stoked to hear you're making this Brooke and please let me know how it goes :).
Easy to make, unique flavours, great texture and the perfect level of sweetness.
Replaced the ricotta with half lactose free sour cream & half lactose free Greek yoghurt because those were easier to get than lactose free ricotta and it worked perfectly!
Thank ya so much Robin for the super sweet feedback and sharing your replacements. Am super stoked to hear you made this strawberry cake and it worked out perfectly :)! 🍓😘