For The Cake For The Filling

1. Fire up the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Oil and line the bases of two 20cm round sandwich tins.
2. Chop the butter into cubes and, in a large mixing bowl, beat it together with the sugar until you've got a pale and fluffy mix. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
3. Get your whisk out again and beat the eggs. Then, slowly add them to the creamed butter and sugar. Sift together the flour, baking powder and half a teaspoon of sea salt, then fold into the mix with a large metal spoon until just combined (don't overdo it!).
4. Add a splash of milk to loosen things up, then split the batter evenly between the two cake tins.
5. Put the cakes in the oven to bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden and cooked through. Test by poking a skewer into the middle of one of the cakes; it's ready when the skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once the cakes are cool, pour your cream into a large bowl, scrape in the vanilla seeds, and whisk until you have soft peaks.
7. Sift in the icing sugar and delicately fold through. Place one of the cakes on your fancy plate or cake stand and spread over the vanilla cream, but not right to the edges or it'll spill over later.
8. Hull and roughly slice the strawberries, then pile them on top of the second cake. Dust with icing sugar and adorn with extra strawberries if you're feeling fancy.