Don’t be surprised at how quickly this olive oil and cornmeal-enriched sheet cake will disappear. The strawberry flavor comes from a swirl of jam and a pretty layer of sliced berries on top. Because the strawberries will shrink and sink a bit during baking (how much depends on their size and sweetness), make sure they’re placed shoulder to shoulder on top of the batter.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes one 13x9" cake
Ingredients
8
1
¾
1½
½
½
½
3
2
½
3
2
½
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°. Gently toss strawberries, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl. Let sit, stirring occasionally, until ready to use.
Step 2
Grease a 13x9" pan with oil. Line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on 2 long sides. Grease parchment with oil. Generously sprinkle pan and parchment with sugar, tilting to coat pan in an even layer; tap out excess.
Step 3
Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, 1 cup sugar, and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, egg yolks, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla in a large bowl until well combined. Add dry ingredients to sour cream mixture and whisk gently to combine. Using a spatula, gradually fold in ¾ cup oil until batter is smooth and homogenous with all of the oil incorporated.
Step 4
Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Using a small spoon, dollop jam onto surface. Using a butter knife or small offset spatula, gently swirl jam into batter. Arrange reserved strawberries on top of batter in even rows, touching at widest points. Sprinkle all over with remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar.
Step 5
Bake cake until risen and deeply bronzed with no damp spots in the middle and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40–45 minutes.
Step 6
Do Ahead: Cake can be made 4 days ahead. Cover with foil and store at room temperature.
Leave a Review
Reviews (93)
Back to TopTurned out great! A bit lemony with a crisp on the edges, and strawberries on the top look so cute! And making it is super simple! The batter turned out a bit too runny to compared to what I'm used to, but I did a leap of faith and it was a good decision!
Daria_
Netherlands
6/7/2019
SO GOOD. Made this today and it came together relatively quickly and was delicious. It's very well-balanced flavor wise and looks beautiful. It didn't get as brown as I would've liked but there was still a wonderful crunchy sugar crust on the top and sides that I greatly enjoyed. I also substituted out the strawberry jam in favor of raspberry jam because it's what we had, and that was great as well. Will definitely be playing around with this recipe again in the future (topping with peach slices later in the summer, or maybe apple slices in the fall? So many options!).
Anonymous
Berkeley, CA
6/8/2019
mine came out too moist in a gross way and i kept it in the oven longer. also, the strawberries and jam sunk to the bottom, so mine didn't look at all like it looks in the pictures.
Anonymous
new jersey
6/11/2019
I halved the recipe because I don't have a big crowd to feed. Half of 3/4 cup of olive oil would be 1.5 1/4 cup but I used only 1/4 cup because I saw the batter was getting a lot of liquid ingredients by that time and also because of one of the reviews saying it turned out too wet (thanks for saving mine!). Half of my strawberries was buried under the cake. Only the left side. Not sure what made the difference. It's pretty much a cornbread with strawberries. I will use the almond flour next time and sprinkle halved almonds on top.
Anonymous
Miami, Florida
6/12/2019
This is a good cake! I loved the texture of the cornmeal in it - it gave the cake a good hardiness that really does make it seem like more of a "snacking cake" than dessert. I had to bake the cake for about 50 minutes for it to brown on top, and even then it didn't get quite as brown as the picture, but if I cooked it more it probably would have burned on the edges. It was still good even on the paler side! Removed one star because the jam was kind of an odd addition - my dollops all sunk to the bottom even after attempting to spread them out a bit before baking, and some just fell out of the cake as I was eating it (with my hands, obviously). All in all this was a fun thing to make, but I'm not sure if the strawberries shined as much as they deserved. Since I'm getting mine at the farmer's market, I want to make sure I'm enjoying them as much as possible while they're here.
soapnana
Chicago
6/12/2019
Loved it! I basically only had like half the ingredients so I swapped whole wheat flour for cornmeal, buttermilk for sour cream, apricot jam for strawberry, and fresh blueberries for strawberries. Even with all my crazy swaps it came out delicious and is perfect for dessert, breakfast, or snacking :)
Anonymous
Houston TX
6/13/2019
This recipe was DELICIOUS! I did the thing you shouldn’t do and modified it the first time I made it, but it was glorious with a small dash of almond extract and baked into cupcakes. I think I could have left out the jam for an equally delicious cake with less sugar and fuss. I will absolutely be making this again! I’m an EVOO cake convert for life.
Anonymous
Cambridge, MA
6/16/2019