When I first started brainstorming for this recipe a few weeks ago, I texted my mom and sister asking what types of desserts came to mind when they thought of Easter. My mom replied with “banana pudding” (but I’ve already written a great banana pudding recipe) and my sister said “some sort of floral cake”. I started thinking about how I could incorporate both of those dessert styles (pudding and cake) into one dessert and eventually settled on a trifle. Then, two weeks ago, my little local market had pints of good (ripe! red! not watery!) strawberries for 3/$5! Where they found these strawberries in New Jersey in early March, I do not know, but I didn’t ask questions and stocked up.
There was a strawberry dessert that we made back when I was working at Blackberry Farm that was one of my favorites. Garden strawberries in a strawberry elderflower consommé over whipped crème fraîche topped with vanilla olive oil. It was so simple and really allowed that perfect berry flavor to shine. So I took some of my favorite components from that recipe and got to work.
The end product, this very spring dessert recipe I’m sharing with you today, hits all of those notes and then some. There are four components: roasted vanilla strawberries, an olive oil cake, a sunny orange curd, and whipped mascarpone. All but the whipped mascarpone can be made days in advance and I’ve created this recipe so that it can be all things to all people. Want to make a trifle? You can! Would you rather a simple snack cake? You can do that too! Serve it shortcake style, or even as a layer cake. It’s meant to be versatile so make it your own.
one dessert, so many possibilities
Here are some notes/guidelines for adapting this recipe to suit your needs.
to make it a trifle:
Bake the olive oil cake in a 9x13” dish and then cut it into small cubes (the size of croutons) once cooled. Layer all of the components into either a big, beautiful trifle dish or into small glasses for individual trifles. Start with cake on the bottom, followed by curd, then whipped mascarpone, and finally strawberries. Repeat until you’ve filled your vessel.
to make it a simple snack cake:
Bake the olive oil cake in a 9x13” dish and let cool completely. Top with a layer of orange curd and then pile on the whipped mascarpone. Swoop and swirl it like frosting and then spoon the roasted strawberries and some of their juices on top.
to make it a plated dessert:
For a fancy shortcake vibe, serve this dessert plated individually. Bake the olive oil cake in a 9x13” dish and when cooled, cut it into whatever shape or size you’d like (squares, rectangles, triangles would all work well). On each small plate, swoop a dollop of orange curd and set a slice of cake on top. Finish with a dollop of whipped mascarpone and a spoonful of roasted strawberries.
to make a rustic layer cake:
Bake the olive oil cake in two 8” cake pans. The layers will be thinner so you’ll probably need to adjust your baking time. The cakes are finished when the edges begin to pull away from the sides, they are deeply golden, and no longer jiggly in the center. Once completely cooled, place one cake layer on a cake stand and top with a layer of orange curd, followed by a layer of whipped mascarpone, and finally the strawberries. Place the other cake layer gently on top and repeat your curd, mascarpone, strawberry toppings.
a spring dessert: olive oil cake with orange curd, whipped mascarpone, and vanilla roasted strawberries
makes: one 9x13” olive oil cake, about 2 cups of orange curd, about 2 cups of whipped mascarpone, and about 2 cups of vanilla roasted strawberries
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Pastry School 101 to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.