Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

This hot pink layer cake is a real strawberry caramel, and fresh strawberries are added to the cake batter and icing. One thing to note about the buttercream glaze is that it has a rich berry flavor, but it's easy to mix. If you find that the emulsion has gone bad while whipping this glaze, don't worry. You can simply add a little more powdered sugar to give it a smooth appearance. However, we like the pure strawberry flavor of this glaze, so we would advise you to be very careful when adding extra powdered sugar, as this will dilute the berry flavor. In our opinion, it is better that the glaze is slightly cracked and tastes like strawberries, than perfectly clean, tastes like sugar.
Prepare the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Beat the sugar and butter using a powerful electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time; beat on low speed until smooth after each addition. Add vanilla.Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add to the sugar mixture alternately with the baking powder, starting and ending with the flour mixture; beat on low speed until smooth after each addition. Add strawberries and red food coloring.Spread the batter evenly over 3 oiled and floured 8-inch round cake tins. Bake in the preheated oven until a wooden stick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes.Cool the cakes in the tins on wire racks until they are cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Turn the cakes onto a wire rack to allow them to cool completely, about 1 hour.Prepare the strawberry buttercream frosting: Beat the butter using a powerful electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add strawberries, lemon juice, vanilla and salt; beat until smooth.Assemble the cake: Place 1 cake on the cake pan; spread evenly with strawberry buttercream frosting. Repeat 2 times with 2 layers of cake and icing. Spread the top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing.