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  Preheat oven to 340°F (170°C). Whisk the egg whites in a large mixing bowl into soft peaks (set aside the yolks to use in the vanilla custard). Slowly add in the sugar while continuing to whisk until you get stiff, shiny peaks.
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  Fold in the flour and vanilla. Spread the batter across a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Spread the batter evenly across the entire sheet of baking paper.
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  Sprinkle sliced almonds across the top of the batter and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Vanilla custard

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  While the cake bakes, prepare the vanilla custard. Heat the milk and half of the sugar in a saucepan. Split open the vanilla pod with a knife and carefully scrape out the seeds and add them to the milk.
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  Mix together the rest of the sugar and the corn starch in a bowl. Add the egg yolks and whisk together until smooth.
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  Once the milk mixture starts to bubble pour about half of it into the bowl with the egg mixture, whisking quickly the entire time. Then return the saucepan to the heat and pour the egg and milk mixture from the bowl back into the saucepan, whisking the whole time. Let the custard cook for 2 minutes, whisking the entire time. By the end it should be quite thick and harder to whisk.
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  After 2 minutes remove the custard from the heat and pour into a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, placing it directly touching the top of the custard. Let the custard cool while the cake finishes baking and cooling.

Assembly

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  Whip the cream and fold in the vanilla custard. Flip the cake over onto a new sheet of baking paper and carefully peel the baking paper off the bottom of the cake.
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  Spread the vanilla cream evenly across the cake and sprinkle with sliced strawberries, or other berries. Gently roll the cake into a roll, being careful not to let the cream slide out. (You can also let the cake chill in the fridge before rolling it, so the cream is firmer.)
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  Slice and enjoy!