1. Preheat the oven to about 190 degrees.

2. with an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar and vanilla essence (if any) together.

3. beat in the eggs one at a time until 'dropping' consistency has been reached

4. fold in the flour (if it's too stiff, add in cooled boiled water)

5. place the mix into the tin and make a dent in the middle

6. bake at 170 degrees for 20-30mins or until the skewer comes out clean and leave to cool on a cooling rack

7. mix the cream with the chopped strawberries

8. cut the cake into 2 or 3 layers (if the cake has risen enough to do so) with a long knife (e.g. bread knives)

9. spread the strawberry cream in between the layers and stack the layers on top of each other (do not make the cream layer too thick or it will ooze out)

10. dust the icing sugar on top with a sieve then arrange halved strawberries on top. serve. (tea and coffee go well with this)