Line the bottom and side of the cake pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 160 °C (320 °F).

Beat the egg yolks lightly in a small bowl with vanilla extract or essence if use.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with lemon juice.

Once they’ve begun to foam, add the sugar one tablespoon at a time and whip egg whites until stiff peaks.

Keep whipping the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Mix the egg yolks very gently into the meringue to preserve as much air as possible.

Fold the flour very gently into the egg mixture to preserve as much air as possible. I usually sift the flour twice before adding. And then one more time when adding it to the cake batter. This makes the flour more light and airy.

Fold the flour gently into the mixture using a rubber spatula to preserve as much air as possible until all the flour is incorporated.

Warm up the milk and melt the butter. Add melted butter into the warm milk and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Take out one scoop of the cake batter from the bowl and add it to the butter and milk mixture. Mix well. Add the mixture back to the batter. Gently fold in. It helps to incorporate with the rest of the cake batter without much damaging air bubbles.

When you lift the spatula, the batter should fold down like ribbon.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and drop it on the counter once to release air bubbles in the batter. Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 160 °C (320 °F) for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

As soon as you take out the cake pan from the oven, drop it on the counter once as it helps stopping the shrinking. Let the cake cool in the pan on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the parchment paper around the cake.

When the cake has cooled, remove from the pan and let it cool down completely on the cooling rack.

Allow to chill completely before you cut the cake. If the cake is not completely flat, you can trim it with a sharp knife. Before cutting the cake, let it chill in the fridge for about 3 hours or overnight. Slice the cooled cake into two or three layers, as desired.

Prepare whipped cream by whisking the heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.

Prepare the strawberries. Wash the strawberries and then pat them dry with paper towels, making sure to absorb as much water as possible.

Remove the hull and cut the strawberries into halves. Leave some whole to decorate the top of the cake.

Combine the sugar and water in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds until melted, cool. Lay one layer of cake down and brush with the sugar syrup.

Apply a generous layer of whipping cream onto the bottom layer of cake by leveling it with an offset spatula. Arrange a layer of strawberry halves. Cover them with more whipped cream.

Place the second sponge cake layer on top, aligning it perfectly with the bottom layer. Give the cake a thin crumb coat before icing the entire cake with whipped cream.

Frost the top and all around the cake with whipped cream using an offset spatula and then decorate the top of the cake with whipped cream and whole or strawberry halves, as you like.

Let the cake chill overnight in the refrigerator – it will taste much better the day after!