Olive Oil Pound Cake with Roasted Strawberries

It was one of those days that I had spent a majority of my day eating literally everything in sight.  I don’t use the word ‘literally’ lightly.  I was home, testing recipes and shooting and eating everything that crossed my gaze or found its way into my hands.  

My cat, Tron is fine. His fur makes him distinctly inedible. 

It was on this day, Eat Day April 2017, that a friend invited me over for a swimming party.  Essentially someone invited me over to their house to be in my underwear around both them and strangers.  Great. Cool. Perfect.  You know what? There’s no finer way to end Eat Day April 2017 than with a pool party because a pool party means that someone might order a pizza and… PIZZA! I’ll be there.  Just let me dig out my one-piece. 

With a swimming suit in my purse, I wrapped up a hearty, uneaten wedge of this Olive Oil Strawberry Pound Cake as an offering at the pool party.  I managed to not eat it in the car.  But I did… and I’ll tell you this because it’s true… I was the one that ordered the pizza, and I never did put that swimsuit on.

It was a very fine day. Marked, notably, by this pound cake. 

These lovely strawberry gems sat on my kitchen counter, watching me walk by, eating what can only be considered an ALARMING amount of string cheese, wondering when they were going to be made into something sweet.  

These are them… just moment before they gave up the ghost.  

Let’s start the batter before this all goes off the rails. 

We’ve got strawberries. There’s pizza in our future. Let’s get down to it.

Eggs are whisked with granulated sugar until the mixture is pale and thick.  The pale and thick part is important.  This will aerate the eggs and dissolve the sugar. 

Olive oil!  Good, grassy tasting, bright and green olive oil!

Can you taste it in the cake?  Heck yes!  It’s fantastic! 

Whisk in sour cream or yogurt until smooth and exciting.  

These strawberries are optimally ripe and already delicious.  

When I bake strawberries into pastry I like to remove some of the moisture out of the strawberries and the best way to do that is to give the strawberries a quick roast.  

Roasted. Intensely strawberry.  Ready for batter and more oven time. 

The dry ingredients! 

Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt are whisked together and added to the wet ingredients. 

Strawberries are gently folded into the batter.

It’s thick and drippy spoonable.  

Parchment is a best friend.  It makes lifting baked loaves like this an easy dream.  

Golden brown and that split down the center means we’re doing it right. 

Served warm and strawberry studded.  This cake is light in olive oil taste vibes, but it’s present. The crumb is moist and the cake borders just ever so playfully on the sense side.  It’s wonderful, and would also make a lovely home for other summer berries.  I’m thinking blueberry will be up next in my kitchen.

And about that Eat Day… no shame in the game. 

Olive Oil Pound Cake with Roasted Strawberries

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Joy the Baker

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Ingredients

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• 3 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup sour cream or full fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• powdered sugar for topping

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Instructions

1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×5-inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray. Line with parchment paper so that two flaps of paper hang over the sides. Grease the parchment paper too, then set the pan aside.
2. Place strawberries in a single layer across a rimmed parchment lined baking pan. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes until the strawberries are softened and some of the moisture has cooked out of them. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
3. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs and sugar until the eggs are thick and pale in color. Add the sour cream and olive oil and whisk to combine. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract.
5. Add the dry ingredients all at once to wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Add the roasted strawberries and fold to combine.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Fold in the pan if you find the all the strawberries are towards the bottom of the loaf pan. Place in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
7. Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool to just warm. Slice into thick slices and sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

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