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. Add the remaining sugar in 2-3 batches and beat further to make meringue.

When the meringue becomes firm and can form a peak when the whisk is lifted, 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 with a whisk 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.

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

Bake in the oven at 180°C/356°F for 25 minutes. Insert a skewer to check if cooked.

Remove the cake from the oven, drop the tin onto the workbench to detach the cake, and let it cool completely upside down.

If making syrup, bring the syrup ingredients to a boil, then let it cool.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, wipe and halve 10 strawberries.

Slice the sponge cake horizontally in half and place the halves cut side up.

Coat the cut surface of the two sponge cakes with the syrup gently.

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

Spread whipped cream on top and the round edge of the strawberries.

Place the top half of the cake on it, syrup side down, gently press, and fill gaps with whipped cream.

(Optional) Thinly coat the top and sides with whipped cream and chill for 10 minutes.

Fully cover the cake with the remaining whipped cream and pipe additional cream around the edge with strawberries.