For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350º F (176º C).

• Grease a round cake pan (8- or 9-inch diameter will work, just make sure it comes up at least 2 inches) with cooking spray or butter.
• Add about 1 tablespoon of flour to the pan, move it all around, and tap off all the excess.
• In a large bowl, add butter and ½ cup sugar and beat with mixer until soft and creamy.
• Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat well.
• Add flour, baking powder, and sea salt; and give this powder mixture a little mix with a spoon and then beat with mixer on low until just combined. Don’t overbeat in this step.
• Pour into cake pan and bake until a fork poked inside comes out clean (about 25 min).
• Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pan and let cool for another 10 minutes before splitting cake in half lengthwise (serrated knife works best for this).

For the Fresh Strawberry Topping:

• In a clean mixing bowl, gently combine sliced strawberries with sugar until completely coated and let sit until ready to assemble cake. The strawberries will release a bit of sweet juice. This is exactly what you want.

For the Whipped Cream:

• In a clean mixing bowl, beat together heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside until ready to assemble cake.

Assembling the Cake:

• Once the cake has cooled, start layering everything as follows:
• First add half the strawberries plus half its juice onto the first half of the cake (cut side up).
• Then add half the whipped cream on top (don’t spread it to the very edge of the cake).
• Then layer the other half of the cake (cut side down), add the remainder of the cream, and lastly, the remainder of the strawberries plus its juice. Slice and enjoy!