• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. No need to flour, just lightly grease.
• Combine the cake flour, baking soda, salt and ½ cup of the granulated sugar in a mixing bowl and stir well.
• Whisk the buttermilk,  oil, vanilla, and egg yolks together in a second bowl, then add to flour mixture and stir until smooth. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well.
• Whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the reserved ¼ cup sugar to the whites. Fold together the beaten egg whites and the cake batter. It's okay if the egg whites deflate somewhat, but try to keep them as light as you can.
• Set the springform on a rimmed baking sheet and bake on center rack for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes. Carefully pry the cake away from the side of the pan and remove the ring. Let cool completely, then split in half to make two layers.
• Note: You can make the cake ahead of time and freeze it before splitting if you like. It makes the process a little easier.

Strawberry Mixture

• While cake is baking, set aside the 6 to 8 large strawberries that you'll be using as garnish. Slice the rest of the strawberries and toss with the sugar and lemon juice

Cream Cheese and Whipped Cream

• Prepare the cheese mixture. Combine the softened cream cheese or mascarpone, sugar and vanilla in a medium size bowl and beat (by hand is okay for this part) until creamy. Set aside.
• Prepare the whipped cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer, Beat 1 ½ cups cream until stiff peaks begin to form. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Start with a tablespoon of sugar and add more to taste. I've used up to ¼ cup.
• Fold about ¾ cup of the sweetened whipped cream into the cheese mixture, then spread all of this mixture over the split cake.
• Put the remaining sweetened whipped cream into a large piping bag with a star tip and pipe a border around the perimeter of the layer you just spread with cheese mixture. Spoon strawberries over the cheese mixture, letting the border contain them.
• Cap the cake with the top half and spread whipped cream all over, covering the cake completely. Pipe a border around the top (or wait and do this after you've stuck the strawberries on the side, it doesn't matter).
• Take 6 to 8 of the nicest, largest, strawberries and cut them lengthwise. Stick cut strawberry pieces around the side of the cake.
• Garnish with graham cracker crumbs (optional)