For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325°F with a rack in the center of the oven. If using the little springform pans, spray with baking pam to keep the cakes from sticking.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and pulverized freeze-dried strawberry. Set aside. (To pulverize strawberries, put in a small blender or a food processor and blend until powdered).
3. In a large stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until light gold-colored and thickened. Should take about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. DO NOT OVERBEAT.
4. Turn the speed down low and slowly add the dry mixture. Mix just enough to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix again briefly.
5. In a saucepan over medium heat, simmer the milk. Remove pan from heat and add butter and oil, stirring until butter has melted.
6. Slowly mix the hot milk-butter-oil mixture into the batter, stirring on low speed until everything is well combined.
7. Divide the batter between two 8-inch pans so that it comes to 3/4's of the way to the top.
8. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes. You want the top of the cakes to be golden honey in color and when a toothpick is inserted for it to come out clean.
9. Once cooked, remove from oven, set on a cooling rack, and cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans.
10. Remove from pans and let cool completely (about 30 minutes) before frosting. To speed this process up, put in the freezer until completely cooled.

For the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer for 3 minutes. At the end of the 3 minutes, scrape the bowl extremely well.
2. Add the vanilla and beat for 1-2 minutes.
3. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time, beating on low speed to ensure the sugar does not fly out of the bowl. Halfway through adding the sugar, add the strawberry powder. Then continue adding the confectioner's sugar.
4. After each addition of the confectioner's sugar, scrape the bottom of the bowl extremely well.
5. Let stand at room temperature until ready to frost your cake.

To Assemble the Cake

1. First, be certain the cakes are completely cool. If you’re weary of this, pop them in the freezer for about 30 minutes before assembling.
2. Using a serrated edge knife, carefully cut your cakes in half. I like positioning two baking sheets on either edge of the cake and following the edge around so that the cake is evenly split.
3. Add a dollop of frosting to the base of your serving platter. Place the top half of one of the cake halves top down on the platter so the crumb side is face up.
4. Place a dollop of cream cheese frosting in the center of the cake and using an offset spatula, slowly spread the frosting out to the edge. Remove excess back to the frosting bowl.
5. Place the next layer onto the cake flat bottom side up. Repeat cream cheese frosting spreading. Repeat for the other two layers, ensuring that the bottom flat half is the topmost layer of the cake.
6. When the cake is assembled, squish and twist it left or right to make sure it isn’t lopsided.
7. Add a generous portion of frosting to the cake and using an offset spatula, spread the frosting all around the cake and the layers. This first pass of adding frosting is called a “crumb coat” and will be how we can get a smooth and perfect finish on our cake edges. A crumb coat should be light so that you see the edges of the cake but “fill in” any gaps that the layers may have created so that it’s a solid foundation for a smoothing coat next.
8. Place in fridge for half-hour to let the crumb coat set.
9. When set, add a generous portion of frosting to all sides of the cake. Use your offset spatula to get an even edge around all sides. For the remaining frosting, you may find it fun to add a pearl edge (as seen here), or use a tip to create a floral motif throughout. Sprinkle any remaining strawberry powder on the cake as desired.

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