One of my first two cakes. Two layers of genoise (sponge cake, flavored in this instance with a slightly minty and very slightly peppery simple syrup) with strawberries and chiboust (lightened pastry cream, usually done with meringue but here made with whipped cream). More (whole) strawberries inside. Definitely room for improvement, but I'm happy with it as a first try. Made for Ivan and Andreea's wedding.

The other of my first two cakes. Not much to see here; this cake looks much prettier on the inside. Unfortunately, it had to sit out too long before I cut it, so the slices were kind of droopy and there was no way to get a good picture of the layers (see below for an idea of what they should have looked like). Again, plenty of room for improvement, but I'm pleased with the result. Also made for Ivan and Andreea's wedding.

A slice of the above cake that my mom made a few years ago. That's two thin layers of flourless chocolate cake, a thick layer of lemon cream, and a whole lot of mousse, with a very thin layer of ganache on the top. Happily, mine came out pretty similar (not quite as nice, but not terrible), but, again, it was too droopy to get a picture.