This is my recreation of our wedding dessert and I make it every year for our anniversary, so I finally decided it was time to share this very special dessert with you.
Olive oil cake chunks get layered with a strawberry rhubarb mixture and topped with lots of whipped cream and a generous drizzle of your best olive oil. The sweet, dense cake pairs perfectly with the slightly tart fruit layer and the fluffy whipped cream ties it all together. The best part is that you can prep everything ahead and just assemble it the day of. Shout out to our caterers, Tournant, for working with us to create my dream dessert!
P.S. Bake the cake and make the fruit layer a day ahead so they both have time to chill in the fridge.
Ingredient highlight
Olive oil! Check out my blog post all about olive oil 🙂
Servings 10 – 12
Prep Time 20 minutes 
Cook Time 50 minutes Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups (326g) olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups (302g) milk
- Zest + juice of 1 lemon
- 1 ¼ cups (253g) cane sugar
- 2 cups (245g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
For the fruit:
- 3 cups chopped or quartered strawberries (from 16 oz)*
- 3 cups sliced rhubarb (about 1 lb)*
- 2-4 tbsp maple syrup
For the whipped cream:
- 16 oz heavy cream
- Zest from 1 lemon
- *You can substitute any amount of the strawberries or rhubarb with another summer berry. I love adding fresh or frozen raspberries into the mix for a brighter red color. To make it red white and blue for July 4th, sprinkle some fresh blueberries into the layers or on top.
- Note: ~ if you don’t want 10-12 servings, easily cut the recipe in half and bake the cake in an 8×8 square baking dish. The only tricky part is measuring out 1 ½ eggs!
- Note on bake time: ~ you can’t really overbake this cake because it’s so moist, I like to bake it long enough to get a lot of that golden brown color on the top. All ovens are different so use your judgement!
Instructions
To prep the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and eggs until smooth. Whisk in the milk, lemon zest + juice, and sugar until smooth. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and use a rubber spatula to stir and fold until just combined (try not to overmix). There will be lumps and they will disappear when you bake it!
- Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the top has dark golden brown spots all over and a toothpick comes out clean (see note). Let cool, then once it’s cool enough to handle remove it from the pan to cool completely. Break it into 2-inch chunks. Once it’s completely cool, store in an airtight container in the fridge.
To make the fruit layer:
- Add all ingredients to a medium pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil/rapid simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. The fruit will start to break down and release water, you can add a splash of water if needed in the beginning. Simmer for about 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the rhubarb has mostly broken down and the mixture has thickened. Taste and add more maple if needed. Transfer to a bowl to cool, then to the fridge overnight to completely cool (it will thicken up as it chills).
To assemble:
- To make the whipped cream, add the cream to a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until it has stiff peaks. Add the lemon zest and beat briefly to combine.
- To assemble, in a large glass bowl or trifle bowl add a layer of the cake chunks, then dollop the fruit all over. Repeat this until the bowl is nearly full or you run out of cake/fruit. Top with a massive mound of whipped cream. Drizzle olive oil all over. Keep extra whip on the side for people to add to their servings.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Make and bake the cake. Let cool, then tear into chunks and store in the fridge.
- Chop 3 cups strawberries
- Slice 3 cups rhubarb
- Cook the fruit layer
Substitutions:
- To make gluten-free, you can try substituting with a 1:1 al purpose flour.
- This cannot be made vegan, unless you have a vegan egg substitute that works well. Replace the whipped cream with whipped coconut cream.
- You can really use any combination of cooked fruit – stonefruit like peaches or plums would be so good!
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer:
- Cake: up to 6 days in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer (the cake freezes really well if you have extra).
- Fruit: up to 6 days in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
- Whipped cream: up to 3 days in the fridge.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- It’s good cold or you can let it come to room temp. Top with lots of whip and olive oil.
- Stir the whipped cream – it tends to thin out in the fridge, so it won’t be as fluffy but it will still taste amazing!
- Leftover fruit layer can be scooped over ice cream, yogurt, or oatmeal.
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