Chantilly Cake with Strawberries (Italian Cream Cake)

Cake
2 Preheat oven to 325F.
3 Grease and flour 3 9-inch round cake pans.
4 Separate eggs.
5 Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
6 Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually, beating until egg whites form stiff peaks.
7 Set egg whites aside.
8 Cream butter, remaining sugar (1 1/2 cup), vanilla, and salt together.
9 Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each.
10 Beat until the mixture resembles whipped cream.
11 Stir baking soda into buttermilk.
12 Stir flour and baking powder together.
13 Add to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
14 Fold in the egg whites carefully. Fold in 1/3 of the whites to lighten the batter then fold in the rest.
15 Spoon the batter into the baking pans evenly.
16 Bake for 40 minutes.
17 Remove from oven and cool in pans for 5-10 minutes.
18 Turn out and cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
21 Beat the cream cheese and the butter together.
22 Add the vanilla.
23 Add the powdered sugar until you have a creamy consistency.
24 Add a tablespoon of buttermilk if necessary to thin it down.
Assembly
27 Place one cooled layer on a cake plate.
28 Spread with cream cheese frosting.
29 Place a layer of sliced strawberries on the cream cheese and top with another cake layer.
30 Repeat.
31 Stabilize layers with straws or wood skewers and frost with remaining cream cheese frosting.
32 Place halved berries around the edge of cake and chill for three hours.
33 Bring to room temperature before serving.