6 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup superfine Baker's sugar*
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups prepared vanilla pudding
2 cups fairly stiff whipped cream
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
peel of 1 lemon
peel of 1/2 orange
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp. lemon juice
powdered sugar (to sift over top)
anisette or rum

Preheat oven to 325°F. Using two 9-inch cake pans: put a round of parchment paper inside bottoms only; very lightly but thoroughly grease bottoms and sides of pans.

Separate eggs; beat yolks. Add 1 cup superfine sugar to beaten yolks and beat until light. Sift together (pre-sifted) cake flour, baking powder and salt. Add this flour mixture to sugar-yolk mixture and beat together by hand with wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed. Beat egg whites with mixer until stiff enough for a meringue, then fold gently into the first mixture. Divide batter evenly between pans and bake in center of preheated 325°F oven for 30 minutes or just until cake springs back after it's lightly pressed in the center.

While cake is baking, make the lemon-anisette mixture: add lemon and orange peels with 1/4 cup granulated sugar to 3/4 cup water and boil gently until reduced to about 1/3 cup liquid; do not overcook. Add lemon juice and liqueur and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Upon removing cake layers from oven, allow to cool about 8 minutes in pans on cooling racks; position a large flat surface, such as a 10-inch dinner plate over the top of each layer, hold together tightly and flip over, allowing each cake layer to come out of the pan gently and without tearing onto the plate - do not shake or tap, just coax it out gently, using a fork around edges if necessary. Allow layers to cool completely at room temperature for at least 2 hours.

Note: For best results, assemble and serve the same day, if possible.

As close as possible to serving time, assemble cake as follows:

Very carefully cut each layer in half horizontally to make a total of 4 layers. Using a fine toothpick or skewer, poke (only) a few holes vertically through each layer and sprinkle with the lemon-anisette liquid. Reassemble each original layer by spreading pudding between the cut surfaces. Now you have two layers, each with pudding in the middle; put these together with whipped cream and strawberries in the middle.

Sift powdered sugar over the top, nothing on sides other than the oozing pudding and whipped cream. A cake cutter with tines is best to cut this delicate cake; otherwise, use a very sharp, narrow bladed knife.

Warning: it is addictive and hard to stop eating before all the cake is gone.

Submitted by: Anon.