Pre-heat oven to 180°C/356°F.

Coat the inside of an 18cm/7" cake tin with butter, dust with flour, then shake off the excess flour.

Put the egg yolks in a bowl, add ⅔ of the sugar and beat the egg yolks until they become whitish and thick.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites. When the small bubbles form, add the remaining sugar in 2-3 batches and beat to make meringue.

When the meringue becomes firm and can form a peak when lifting the whisk, it is ready.

Put the flour through the sifter and add to the beaten egg yolk. Fold the batter with a spatula.

Transfer ⅓ of the meringue to the batter and mix until smooth.

Add the remaining meringue to the batter in 2-3 batches and fold.

Pour the melted butter into the batter and fold several times. It's OK even if the butter is not completely mixed.

Pour the batter into the cake tin. Drop the tin onto the work bench to settle the batter.

Cook in the oven for 25 minutes. Insert a skewer; if it comes out wet, cook for another 5 minutes.

Take the tin out of the oven and drop it onto the workbench a couple of times to detach the cake, then cool it upside down on a rack.

If making syrup, combine syrup ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to cool.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Wipe strawberries and halve 10 of them.

Slice the sponge cake horizontally in half, then coat the cut surfaces with syrup.

Spread whipped cream on the bottom half and fill with halved strawberries.

Spread more whipped cream over the strawberries and top with the other half of the cake, aligning well.

Thinly coat the top and sides with whipped cream and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Fully cover the cake with remaining whipped cream and pipe remaining cream into mounds around the edge, placing a strawberry on each mound.