Preheat oven to 350 F and prep your cake pan by oiling or placing parchment paper, etc.
Beat together egg yolks, C of sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla until smooth and yolks turn pale yellow. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until it forms soft peaks and slowly beat in the rest of the sugar. Keep beating consistently to create a snow-like batter (delicate peaks). Set aside.
Stir the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, salt - together in a separate bowl. Stir in the yolk mixture with a fork, gently mixing until basically incorporated. It should form a wet thickish batter. Be careful not to over-mix!
The fun part: fold in the eggwhite snow C at a time, into the cake batter making sure to incorporate fully each time. The final result should be a much lighter, fluffier batter.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake in the center rack for 30-35 minutes on 350 F, until it's golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (I added some frozen strawberries which I wouldn't recommend as it interferes with the moisture of the cake when the frozen strawberries cook :\)
Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool for 5 minutes before removing. Let it completely cool before serving with some berries, drizzled chocolate, or ice cream!
FOR STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: I use a cookie to get that thin layer. Bake for 20-30 minutes... Keep your eye out for the top to turn a light golden brown. If it jiggles, it's all right - it will settle once it's fully cooled.
Make the cream cheese frosting by whipping the butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Wait for the cake to be completely cool before applying. (don't want a runny, melty situation!)
You can double this recipe and bake two cookie sheets of batter, or just cut the cake in half like my lazy self did. Apply frosting, place you sliced strawberries, add another layer of frosting thinly, cover with top cake layer, apply thin layer of frosting on the top. Voila! You have yourself some strawberry shortcake
