Strawberry sumac olive oil cake feels like the perfect dessert for a spring BBQ. It can be made in advance, and it’s one of those cakes that tastes just as good slightly warm as it does a day or two later — perhaps even better. This cake is studded with ruby, syrupy strawberries that bake into the crumb, then brushed and drizzled with a rich, tangy strawberry–sumac syrup while still warm. I like to serve the cake with a generous cloud of fluffy salted whipped yogurt and cream, lightly infused with vanilla, topped with plenty of early season sweet strawberries.
If you’re a paid subscriber, thank you! If you’ve not yet subscribed — we are about to enter into a really exciting season (summer is on it’s way!), so this is the moment to join.
Paid subscribers receive brand new recipes weekly, full menus complete with considered grocery list, prep videos, thoughtful alternatives, and access to the entire archive of recipes and newsletters.
Baking (and cooking) with sumac
If you have never cooked or baked with sumac, you are missing out. Sumac is a deep red spice made from the dried and ground berries of the Rhus coriaria shrub. Although it has a bright, lemony sharpness, the flavor profile is softer and fruitier than fresh citrus, with a gentle, almost floral edge. I reach for it constantly, scattering it over chicken, fish, stews and soups, but it is when used in baking that sumac reveals its nuanced complexity.
In baking, sumac offers a way of introducing that essential tang without adding liquid - sharpening rather than soaking. It is an easy way to make a cake your own, lifting the flavor without having to adjust the ratios. Where lemon juice might tip a cake towards heaviness or dampness, sumac keeps everything light.
When strawberries are mixed with sumac, the deep red ground berries give the impression of caramelization, as though their sugars have been coaxed a little further along. Meanwhile, the sweetness of the strawberries feels deeper, darker, and more complex, while still held in a bright, taut frame.
Olive oil
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.