Best Homemade Strawberry Cake (Erdbeerboden)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prep your German tart pan by rubbing in butter and dusting with flour, so the cake won't stick. You could also use a non-stick baking spray instead and spray your cake pan with it.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, vanilla and salt until combined.

Add in one egg at a time, beating on high for about 30 seconds in between.

Sift together flour and baking powder, then alternate with the milk when adding in with the butter-egg mixture.

Using a rubber spatula, evenly spread the batter onto the prepped German tart pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden.

Allow to cool completely, then trim any edges with a serrated knife if necessary. Turn cake pan upside down to release the cake. You're ready to top your cake.

Add the scraped out vanilla bean or vanilla extract to a small pot with the milk, then bring to a boil.

In the meantime, beat the egg yolk and powdered sugar for 3 minutes until you achieve a thick mixture. When the eggs appear almost white, mix in the cornstarch. This ensures that you won't end up with a bunch of lumps in your pudding.

Add the egg-sugar-cornstarch mixture to the milk while stirring constantly. Return to a boil, then let cool in a bowl until ready to use.

Combine the water, strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and put over high heat.

Stir thoroughly while bringing it up to a boil. After the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low, and allow to cook for up to ten minutes, occasionally stirring, so it won't burn.

As the strawberries soften, use a wooden spoon to break them in pieces to release the flavors and juices from the strawberries.

Remove the strawberries from heat. Using a strainer, pour liquid into a bowl ensuring to press as much juice as possible through strainer. Dispose any of the solid strawberries leftover from mixture (or eat with vanilla ice cream!), and return liquid to pan on low heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Then, pour into the simmering pan of strawberry juice.Increase heat to high, and continue to whisk the mixture until it thickens into a glaze (approximately 3-5 minutes).

Remove glaze from heat, and pour into separate bowl to cool down. Once the glaze has reached room temperature, place in refrigerator until it is chilled. Use a pastry brush to generously distribute over the fruit.

Spread a good amount of vanilla pudding directly onto the cake.

Prep the fresh strawberries by removing the greens. If they're smaller berries, I like leaving them whole and placing them upside down onto the pudding filling. If they're larger, I like slicing them and layering them going from the outside in.

Finally, brush on the glaze onto the berries. If the glaze is too thick, add a little water.

Garnish with fresh mint (optional) and serve with whipped cream (optional). I promise everyone will LOVE THIS!