Sun Gold Olive Oil & Strawberry Cake
ingredients:
For the cake batter
250ml Extra virgin olive oil
180g granulated sugar
3 large eggs
220g sour cream
250g AP flour
1, 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
350g (20 approx) large, fresh strawberries. (Divide in two batches. One for the batter and the other for the topping)
For the cream topping
500ml heavy cream (Whipped)
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp granulated or powdered sugar
Demerara sugar (Scattered pinches to taste & decoration)
instructions:
In a large bowl, combine your flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix well.
In a second bowl, put together the sour cream and eggs. Mix well until completely homogenized.
Stream in, slowly the olive oil into the cream and eggs while whisking. Make sure the oils is getting incorporated well until you’re left with a mix that is golden and emulsified.
Pour in your wet ingredients with the dry and mix well with a spoon just until there aren’t any dry pockets of flour or lumps. Don’t overmix as this will make for a cake that’s tough.
Fold in the first batch of your strawberries, each sliced in three, lengthwise, into your batter.
Prep a cylindrical cake mold smeared with room temp butter and covered in flour. Pour your batter into the mold. Tent the mold with aluminum paper.
Place the mold in the oven and let bake for 25 minutes. Then remove the foil and continue baking for a remaining 20 to 25 minutes.
When removing from the oven, use a cake tester to make sure the interior is dry and fully cooked.
Let cool in the mold for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire wrack to fully cool. Make sure that it rests with the domed side up, and flat side down.
Whip your cream with the salt and the sugar until you have stiff peaks.
Take the second batch of your strawberries and cut each one of them in half, lengthwise and keeping the green leafs on top (They’re edible!)
Once your cake is fully cooled, start dolloping your cream on top of the cake, decorating it with small swooshes, using a small spoon. Then place your halved strawberries in a decorative pattern.
Finally sprinkle some demerara sugar in small piles, randomly across the surface of the cake. These will provide really nice moments of sweetness and crunch.
Store at room temperature, but feel free to store in the fridge as well, due to the amount of olive oil in the batter, the cake remains moist and soft even while cold.
