Preheat your oven to 180c/160C Fan and line a 9x13" traybake tin with parchment paper!
With a stand mixer, beat your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs, flour and vanilla and beat until a lovely smooth sponge mixture is created!
Add your strawberries to the top of the sponge evenly - sprinkle of the granulated sugar if you are using it! (It gives a nice crunchy top!)
Bake the cake in the oven for 45-55 minutes! (Check with a skewer)
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes or so once baked, and then move to a wire rack to cool fully! (Be careful moving it as it'll be very soft!)
For the Decoration!
Pour your double cream into a bowl with the icing sugar, and whip until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the top of the cake, and then add your meringue bits and strawberries on top!
Sprinkle with freeze dried strawberries and serve!
This cake is best on the day of baking but can be eaten within two days.
It needs to be stored in the fridge because of the fresh cream topping - this can sometimes dry the sponge out slightly, but the strawberries help keep it moist!
I used shop bought meringues in this one to demonstrate how easy it is to make - but you can easily make your own!
You can swap the fruit out for other fruits as well.
The original cake recipe is
200g flour/butter/sugar and 4 medium eggs with 2tbsp double cream and 200g strawberries baked into a 10" tin.