[Serves 10]

Ingredients:

For Génoise:

*4 room temp. medium eggs *½ tsp vanilla extract/ paste

*120g sugar *100 g all-purpose-flour

*50g unsalted butter

For Crème Diplomate:

*1 vanilla bean *40g potato flour or cornstarch

*250 ml milk *2 gelatine sheets

*2 room temp. medium eggs *200 ml double (heavy) cream

*50g sugar

For Syrup:

*150g sugar *½ tsp vanilla extract or paste

*150g water *20 ml of strawberry brandy (or rum/ Kirsch)

For Decorations:

*500g strawberries

*and other decorative ingredients

Directions:

1. For Syrup: In saucepan, add sugar, water, and vanilla and heat on medium heat. Boil for 3 minutes and add brandy once mixture has reached room temp.

2. For Crème: warm milk with split vanilla in a large pan. Beat egg yolks with sugar until pale yellow. Add starch and mix until smooth. Add gelatine to milk, dissolve. Slowly pour in milk to egg mixture, stirring constantly. Add mixture back into pan on medium heat and whisk constantly until mixture is thickened. Cover plastic wrap on the custard directly and cool in fridge. Whisk heavy cream until stiff and fold whipped cream into custard.

3. For Génoise: Preheat oven to 190 (375). Separate eggs and whisk egg whites until stiff. Incorporate ⅓ of sugar into egg whites. Beat the rest of the sugar with egg yolk and vanilla. Add flour and melted butter into egg yolk mixture, combine. Then, fold in ⅓ of egg whites and keep incorporating until all egg whites have been folded in. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Once the cake is out of oven, brush syrup onto the cake (after it is cut).

4. Build your cake by placing the first circle of cake onto the bottom of springform pan. Put cut strawberries lengthwise against the pan and form concentric circles until you reach the center of the cake. Pipe in the crème diplomate in the empty spaces and place the second circle of genoise on top. 

**Note: Usually, you’ll place a thin layer of marzipan on top, but I HATE marzipan. It’s disgusting and it throws off the texture and taste. I just dust on powdered sugar or when I’m feeling fancy, I coat the top with a thin layer of strawberry jam or compote.**