Melisa Spence, UC Master Food Preserver Online Program Volunteer
When I heard that we were highlighting strawberries this month, my mind immediately went to this cornmeal olive oil cake with a strawberry jam swirl from pastry chef Teresa Finney*. Finney suggests using any jam you like or have on hand, and I used a rose geranium-strawberry jam that I had open in my fridge.
Image credit: Teresa Finney, 2025.
I halved Finney's cake recipe for our two-person household, baking in a 6” round cake pan. To make the cake vegan (we aren't vegan, but appreciate the versatility of vegan baking ingredients), I used flax for the egg, and soy milk plus lemon for the buttermilk. Other milks won't necessarily curdle like soy milk, but you can use them. I used cane syrup in place of honey — you could also try another liquid sweetener. Camilla Wynne** suggests experimenting with substituting jam or marmalade for liquid sweetener, so you could try that for a stronger jam effect (both incorporated into batter and swirled) — I haven't tried it with this recipe but think it could be fun.
Cornmeal Olive Oil Cake with Strawberry Jam Swirl
(adapted from Chef Teresa Finney)
Flax egg:
1 Tbsp flax meal
3 Tbsp water
Buttermilk substitute:
1.5 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
87g soy milk
Remainder cake ingredients:
120g all-purpose flour
28g cornmeal
½ tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
95g olive oil
90g granulated sugar
23g cane syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
80g strawberry jam
Steps:
Make flax egg: Stir together flax meal and water. Let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes and stir again. (King Arthur recommends 30 minutes, but I typically don't wait that long.)
- Make buttermilk substitute: Combine lemon juice or vinegar and soy milk. Let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Spray a 6-inch cake pan with at least 2-inch sides with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
In a large mixing bowl, add the olive oil, granulated sugar, buttermilk substitute, cane syrup, vanilla extract, and flax egg. Whisk to combine.
- Using a spatula, gently fold in the dry ingredients until they are just incorporated.
Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Spoon about half of the jam on the batter and use a toothpick or butter knife to swirl jam into the batter. Add the remaining batter followed by the remainder of jam and repeat.
- Bake the cake for about 45 minutes, checking for doneness around the 40-minute mark. When done, a toothpick or butter knife inserted into the center of the cake will come out mostly clean, sides of cake will be pulling away from the pan, top of cake will feel set, and your kitchen will smell fragrant with strawberry jam.
- Cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack until you are ready to serve.
Image credit: Melisa Spence, 2025.
* Teresa Finney is an Atlanta-based pastry chef and writer with roots in The Bay Area, CA.
** Camilla Wynne is a Toronto-based writer, recipe developer, and cooking teacher specializing in preserving and pastry.
Please note: The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent those of the University of California.