Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper — this prevents sticking like nothing else. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl so you're ready to go.

Cream the softened butter with granulated sugar until it looks pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. The mixture should look almost mousse-like. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition so everything combines smoothly.

Stir in the alcohol-free vanilla extract. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the batter, starting and ending with flour — this prevents overmixing. Don't overbeat or your strawberry lemonade layer cake cozy will turn tough and dense instead of tender.

Fold in the fresh strawberries and lemon zest gently using a spatula. You want them distributed throughout without crushing the berries. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine always sticks a little to the pan at the edges and that's fine — that's how you know the edges got properly set. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks.

While cakes cool completely, whip together cream cheese, lemon juice, and lemon extract until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and heavy cream, beating until you get frosting consistency. Taste it — add more lemon juice if you want tangier frosting.

Place one cake layer on your serving plate. Spread frosting evenly across the top. Top with the second layer and frost the top and sides with remaining frosting.