Vanilla Sponge Cake with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

I know that mom enjoys desserts that are not too sweet, so for her 80th birthday on 1/17/20, I came up with this vanilla sponge cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It was light and redolent with the aroma of the fresh berries. The key is to use very ripe strawberries and, even then, macerating them first with a sprinkling of sugar to ensure they are not too tart.

INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe vanilla sponge cake: http://thegrubfiles.blogspot.com/2017/02/vanilla-sponge-cake.html

1 recipe whipped cream https://thegrubfiles.blogspot.com/2018/01/hubert-kellers-black-forest-cake.html

2 pints fresh ripe strawberries
Sugar

1/4 cup apricot jam

DIRECTIONS:
1. Make the vanilla sponge cake and set aside to cool.

2. Once cake has cooled, cut 1 pint of the strawberries into halves or thirds (depending on size) and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with a 2-3 teaspoons of sugar, stir to combine and let sit to macerate 15-30 minutes. 

3. Stem and cut the other pint of strawberries in half; set aside.

4. Make the whipped cream; set aside.

ASSEMBLY: 
1. Place one of the cooled cake layers onto a cake stand or plate lined with parchment or a cardboard cake round. 

2. Spread the macerated strawberries along with some of the juice on top of the cake layer. Top with a 1-inch layer of the whipped cream.

3. Top the cake with the second cake layer. Using an offset spatula, spread whipped cream to cover the sides of the cake.

4. Place the rest of the whipped cream into a large pastry bag with large star tip and pipe the whipped cream decoratively on top of the cake. 

5. Decorate the top of the cake with the halved strawberries.

6. Heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan or in the microwave until just melted.

7. Brush the melted jam over the strawberries to give them a nice sheen.