Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a small baking pan, mix together the sliced strawberries, sugar and salt, and transfer to the oven to roast for 15 minutes.

Puree the roasted strawberry mixture until smooth, either in a food processor or blender.

Grease (3) 8″ cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round sheet of parchment paper - this will help release the cake from the pans very smoothly. You can also just cut parchment paper squares that more or less cover the bottom of the round pan, if you want to avoid buying the round ones.

Whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a standup mixer bowl, beat together the butter and sugars with a paddle attachment, on very high speed until it’s very light in color and fluffy; this may take 3-5 minutes.

Once combined, mix in the eggs, one at a time on low speed, vanilla, milk, and food coloring - do not over mix, only until the eggs and liquids are incorporated and mixed in. The food coloring is optional, but if omitted, your cake will not come out pink, and instead have a light brown color.

Gradually pour in the dry ingredients and gently mix on low speed with the paddle attachment to combine; halfway through the dry ingredients, mix in the strawberry puree. Do not over mix.

Evenly distribute the batter between the cake pans - I use a kitchen scale to tare out the scale with the pans on it, to ensure each pan has the same amount of batter in it. This will help create even layers for your cake and even “done-ness” in the cake layers.

Bake 30-35 minutes if using 8″ pans, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 15 minutes then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. This can be done at room temperature or sped up in the refrigerator.

If making the cakes a day ahead, wait for the cakes to cool completely then wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator overnight.

Whip the cream cheese and butter with the paddle attachment on high speed in a standup mixer bowl until completely smooth and creamy.

Add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time on low speed until more or less incorporated and to avoid sugar exploding everywhere.

In a small food processor, pulse the freeze-dried strawberries until it resembles a powder. If you are also piping designs with the cream cheese frosting, either ensure that there are no large bits in the powder, or set aside ⅔ cup of the cream cheese frosting to color separately later.

Add vanilla, salt, and freeze-dried strawberry powder, and switch to beating on high for about 1 minute. Scrape down the edges of the bowl with a soft spatula to ensure the frosting is completely smooth, and beat on high again until the entire bowl is completely smooth and creamy.

To assemble, level off the tops of each cake using a cake level - if you don’t do this, the cake will slope downward towards the edges and you won’t have that pretty, even shape. Spread a thin and even layer of frosting between each cake.

Spread a thin layer of frosting around the entire outside of the cake (also known as the crumb coat) and chill for 20-30 minutes.

Apply a thick layer of frosting around the chilled cake and then spread it evenly.

With any remaining frosting, you can pipe any decorations you want on top, or just keep it simple and classic without any piped designs.

Best enjoyed when taken out from the fridge for about 20-30 minutes so that the cream cheese softens just a bit.