Rum Syrup:
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
Place ingredients into a small sauce pan, cook over mediam-high heat stirring until it boils. boil for 2 minutes, allow to cool to room temperature, then add 2 bottles of rum extract.

Boiled Cream Filling:
1½ cup sugar
6 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoon cornstarch
dash salt
3 cups milk
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium sauce pan add sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt - stir to incorporate the cornstarch and flour into the sugar. Add 1/2 cup of milk and stir until all ingredients are wet, it will be thick but this process cuts down on lumps. Slowly add the remaining milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickens, about 20 minutes. Add 2 beaten eggs, cook 3 additional minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla.

Cover the pudding with saran wrap, make sure the wrap is touching the top of the pudding, this will eliminate the crust that forms on the pudding when it's cooled. Chill

Sponge Cake:
6 eggs separated
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (1/4 + 3/ 4)
1 tablespoon water
1 cup sifted cake flour (all purpose flour can be used but cake flour will make the cake lighter)
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon lemon rind

Combine egg whites and salt, beat until soft peaks. Gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar, beat until stiff peaks.

In another bowl beat egg yolks until thick and foamy, slowly beat in remaining 3/4 cup of sugar and water.

Sift together flour and baking powder; slowly fold into yolk mixture. Fold in lemon rind.

Fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture until well blended.

Pour into (2) 9” cake pans - lightly greased and floured and the bottoms lined with wax paper

Bake 350, 30 minutes. Cool 30 minutes, then remove the cakes for the pans, invert them back into the pans, this will allow you to remove the wax paper that is on the bottom of the cakes. With the cakes still in the baking pans dribble equal portions of the rum syrup over each cake. Allow cakes to cool to room temperature.

Assemble the Cake:
Fresh Strawberries
2 cups Whipping Cream
2 teaspoons sugar

Place one of the cakes on a serving dish. top with 1/2 the pudding mixture, and a layer of sliced strawberries. Place remaining cake on top, then add the remaining pudding mixture. Place whipping cream in a cold bowl, add sugar and whip until stiff. Whip cream up the sides of the cake and in about an inch. Place sliced strawberries around the bottom of the cake and decorate the top pudding part of the cake with more sliced strawberries. (A concentric circle with one whole strawberry in the middle is nice).

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

SUGAR-FREE NOTE: Splendra can be used for the syrup, pudding, and whipped cream, but not in the cake.