Eat this cake on your porch with some pretty ladies in big hats.

Lemon Butter Cake
adapted from Sky High's marbled lemon-blueberry butter cake

for the cake
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
7 egg whites
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups milk

for the frosting
2 pints strawberries
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, room temp
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment.
2 Cream the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Add the egg whites a couple at a time, beating well between additions.
3 Combine the dry ingredients and whisk to blend. Add to the batter, alternating with the milk, in 2-3 additions.
4 Beat on medium-high speed for about a minute to aerate the batter.
5 Divide among the prepared pans and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely.

1 Cut up all the strawberries and place in a bowl with some of the sugar (if they're very ripe, you won't need much). Set aside to get saucy and delicious.
2 In a small (nonreactive) saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring until it reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees). Remove from the heat.
3 In a mixer, beat the eggs briefly. As it's going, add the syrup in a thin stream. When it's all added, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is fluffy and cooled to body temperature. (This can take a while.)
4 Reduce the speed to low and add the butter, a few tablespoons at a time. Beat in the lemon juice.