Make the shortbread crust

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180° C) and make sure, all ingredients are at room temperature.
2. Whisk sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl to combine. Mix in the butter and incorporate everything. The mixture will be pretty crumbly. 
3. Evenly pat the mixture into a 9-inch baking dish. I like to use aluminum ones for this. 
4. Bake for 9 - 12 minutes until the crust is set and has a light brown color. 
5. Set aside to cool completely, ideally overnight. 

Make the vanilla cake

1. Line the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper but do not grease. 
2. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
3. In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar until very pale and fluffy (ribbon stage). 
4. Whisk in the vanilla extract. 
5. Mix flour and baking powder and carefully fold into your egg mixture using a rubber spatula. Make sure you don't have any pockets of flour left.
6. Pour in the butter on the side of the bowl and fold in. 
7. Transfer batter to cake pan and bake for 25 - 35 minutes until the cake releases from the sides and a stick inserted in the center comes out clean.  
8. Set aside to cool completely, ideally overnight.

Make the pastry cream

1. In a small saucepan, heat half the sugar, milk, salt, and vanilla until hot but not boiling.
2. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks, the remaining sugar, and corn starch until well combined and smooth. At first, it will look way too dry but just keep whisking and you will end up with a smooth and pale yellow cream. 
3. When the milk mixture is hot, very slowly whisk it into the egg mixture. 
4. Return to the saucepan over medium heat and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens up. 
5. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter until it's dissolved and the mixture is shiny. 
6. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly onto the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming.  
7. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. 

Assemble the cake

1. Use a 9-inch cake ring to make things easier for you.
2. Place the shortbread crust onto the cake stand, drizzle with lemon juice and spread strawberry preserves evenly across the entire layer. 
3. Cut off the top crust of the vanilla cake to the desired thickness of your cake layer (I prefer 1 - 1.5 inches) and place it on top of the shortbread crust. 
4. Optional: drizzle cake with an orange liqueur such as Cointreau.
5. Whisk pastry cream until smooth and spread over vanilla cake in an even layer. 
6. Cut strawberries in half and decoratively arrange onto the pastry cream layer. 
7. Make the jelly topping by combining the package with sugar and water and bring to a boil until the liquid starts to turn clear.
8. Add lemon juice and evenly distribute over the strawberries.
9. Chill the entire cake until the glaze has set.
10. Enjoy with a dollop of whipped cream and a cup of coffee. 

Guten Appetit!