Sponge Cake with Fresh Whip Cream and Macerated Berries

For the Italian sponge cake:
8" or 9" round pan (but you can totally use a square pan)
120g granulated sugar
4 eggs (room temp)
1/4 tsp salt
120g sifted cake flour (if you don't have cake flour, you can sift and spoon level 1 cup of all purpose flour, remove 2 TBS of flour and add 2 TBS of corn starch, and sift again. If you don't have corn starch, just use all purpose flour as-is)

Preheat the oven to 340F. Grease your pan (and ideally line with parchment paper). beat the sugar, eggs, and salt in a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer) until light and fluffy and very light in color (about 15mins). Gently fold in the flour gradually, about 3-4 rounds. pour into the pan (don't bang down the pan or flatten the top, just leave it as-is). bake for 35-40mins (do a toothpick check). cool for about 10mins. Remove from pan and continue to totally cool on a rack.

For the berries:
1 cup of strawberries (optional handful of blueberries)
2 TBS sugar

Cut the strawberries in half and some in quarters. With a fork, mash up about 1/4 of the strawberries and blueberries in a bowl or container. stir in the sugar. Add the rest of the berries and mix all together. cover and let "marinate" in the fridge for about 30mins.

For the whip cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Pro tip: pop the bowl and whisk you're going to use in the fridge to get cold, prior to whipping. pour the heavy cream in the cold bowl and start to whip in a mixer or hand mixer (start slow or prepare for splatters). Slowly turn up the speed until it starts to thicken up. Add the sugar and vanilla. turn back up and whip until the whip cream holds its shape, but don't over whip.