
Perfect for an afternoon tea or appropriate for Valentines, this cake is light, moist and full of strawberry flavour.
Notes
- Takes about 1 hour in total – about 10-15 minutes preparation and 40-45 minutes baking
- You can measure out the olive oil via a liquid scale (mls) or weigh it into a bowl (grams) – the result is the same
Equipment
- Two large bowls
- Springform cake tin, 20 – 23cm in diameter, greased and lined with parchment
- Scales, spatula, balloon whisk/mixer/electric hand whisk, measuring spoons and jugs
Ingredients
- Large eggs, separated – 4
- Caster sugar – 210g
- Olive oil (mild) – 210ml/g
- Tipo 00 flour or plain flour – 210g
- baking powder – 2 teaspoons
- Fine salt – a pinch
- vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
- Ground almonds – 40g
- Strawberry yogurt (a thick kind such as Greek yogurt) – 80g
- Strawberries – 80g (about)
Method
- Prepare your baking tin by greasing and lining with baking parchment
- Set the oven to 180 ºC fan / 200 ºC conventional
- Separate the eggs into yolks and whites, putting the whites in one (very clean) bowl and the yolks in another
- Whisk up the egg whites until they are stiff peaks, whisk in one tablespoon of the caster sugar and the vanilla extract into the whites
- Add the remaining caster sugar to the yolks and whisk until it turns pale and increases in volume
- Add the flour, ground almonds, salt and baking powder to the sugar/yolk mixture and slowly whisk in until it is all combined
- Chop up the strawberries and measure out the yogurt
- Fold in the whites to this mixture, a third at a time until it is combined. Try to be gentle while mixing in – a figure of eight motion is useful or use a balloon whisk to ‘cut’ the whites in gently
- Fold in the olive oil
- Pour the mix gently into the prepared tin
- Using a teaspoon, dot the yogurt all over the cake – try to keep the blobs of yogurt fairly small
- Place the strawberries over the yogurt
- Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until the sponge springs back when depressed lightly with your finger and/or a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake (though be careful to notice that you’ve not spiked the yogurt and think the cake is still underdone
- Gorgeous on its own, or serve it as a very special dessert, say for a Valentine’s or birthday celebration, with a good quality vanilla ice cream. Alternatively, serve with crushed strawberries that have been mixed into a tub of crème frâiche (plus a dessertspoon of icing sugar)
