strawberry shortcake for another b-day gal

Every year ambien and I will get a cake for each other on our bdays. This year, since I'm so into baking, I thought I'll try my hand and bake her a cake instead. So I bravely adventured into baking a strawberry cake (like the Japanese bakery style). After much research, I narrowed down to this recipe as it seemed easy enough to take on. However, I was quite a skeptic of the recipe as it did not require any butter nor baking powder. I wondered if it could rise. But anyhow, I gave it a shot and not only did it rise 2 times it's height, it was light, fluffy, yummy and full of flavour sponge cake! Slicing the cake into half wasn't easy but hey who can see if it's unevenly cut after it's dressed up with lovely strawberries! Here's the end result. Excuse the messy decor as I got bit tired and just wanted to get the strawberries on the cake, clean up and go to bed :) Here's the recipe by request of ambien and her mom. What you need for Vanilla Sponge Cake (for small cake)

• 4 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• half of 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites

Let's bake!

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees. Line tin with baking paper
2. Whisk yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, vanilla esence till smooth
3. Then whisk in sifted flour and salt into mixture till combined
4. In a separate bowl, whisk whites with pinch of salt at medium speed till soft peaks
5. Add in remaining sugar a little at a time, whisking at medium speed and continue to whisk till stiff and glossy peaks (about 2mins)
6. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently
7. Bake for 25mins till cooked in centre. Cool in tin for about 10mins before inverting.

What you need for Vanilla Cream

• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

--> Whisk all 3 ingredients together till peak.
Let's assemble!

1. Cut cake into half
2. Spread cream on the half, arrange slices of strawberries on top of cream
3. Spread cream on bottom of the other half of cake, then place top half on top
4. Spread remaining cream on top of cake and arrange strawberries on top. Can arrange strawberries standing or any way you prefer, be creative!
5. Optional: spread cream on sides and arrange sliced almonds over. Dust icing sugar on top of strawberries before serving for dreamy effect and enjoy :)