Fresh Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups low fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 egg whites

2 pounds fresh strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar for strawberries
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (*see note below)
3 Tablespoons sugar for whipping cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper & grease paper.
Sift dry ingredients onto wax paper & set aside.
Combine buttermilk & vanilla & set aside.
Beat butter & sugar in a large bowl for one minute.
Beat in egg whites one at a time.
On low speed, alternate adding flour mixture & buttermilk mixture, ending with the flour.
Spread into pans & bake 20-25 minutes.
Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans to cooling rack.
While cake is baking, put strawberries and sugar into a large bowl, stirring occasionally, mashing a little.
Whip the cream with sugar until firm.
Layer half the berries & juices on bottom cake & cover with cream.
Place the second cake layer on top and cover with remaining berries & their juice. Cover the whole cake with remaining cream.
Note: It may be easier to cover the cake using 2 cups (1 pint) of whipping cream. I’ve done it with 1 1/2 cups but sometimes it’s a tight squeeze. So feel free to use an additional 1/2 cup of whipping cream (one pint total) with an additional tablespoon of sugar.