Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of an 8” round cake pan and line the pan with it.

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).

Prepare a high-walled pan or baking dish that fits your cake pan to use as a water bath. Boil a small pot of water to use later.

Combine the milk and butter in a medium-sized heatproof bowl. Microwave until melted. Stir to mix well.

Sift the cake flour into the mixture. Mix gently with a spatula until smooth.

Add the egg yolks. Mix again until evenly combined.

Beat the egg whites at medium high speed until frothy. Slowly add the sugar while continuing to beat until glossy and medium peaks form.

Fold ¼ of the beaten whites into the yolk mixture until smooth, then fold back into the egg whites until just smooth.

Pour the batter into the lined cake pan. Drop the pan from 5” onto the table twice to release extra bubbles.

Place the cake pan in the water bath pan and add hot water. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Run a knife along the edge of the pan to release the cake. Flip it onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Slice 8 oz of strawberries into ¼” slices and sprinkle with sugar. Let sit for at least an hour.

Combine cake syrup ingredients in a small bowl and stir until dissolved. (Optional) Add reserved strawberry soaking liquid to syrup.

(Optional) Combine gelatin and cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes and then heat until melted.

Whip heavy cream with confectioners sugar until soft peaks form. Incorporate gelatin mixture if using.

For regular cream, whip heavy cream with sugar until firm peaks form.

Measure the height of the cake on 4 sides and mark where to cut off the top and in half.

Use a serrated knife to slice the top off along the marks.

Slice the cake into two thin layers along the marks. Brush syrup on the top of the bottom layer.

Flip the other layer, brush syrup over the top.

Add a dollop of whipped cream on the bottom layer and spread evenly.

Arrange strawberries evenly on the cream. Add more cream on top and spread evenly.

Place the top layer, align it with the bottom, and add another dollop of cream. Smooth sides with leftover cream.

Once covered with cream, add a thicker layer on top and smooth sides. Optionally pipe remaining cream for decoration.

Decorate the top with remaining strawberries. Refrigerate stabilized cream cake for at least 30 minutes, serve unstabilized cream immediately.

Slice using a serrated knife if using unstabilized cream after refrigerating.