Pre-heat oven to 180°C/356°F.

Coat the inside of an 18cm/7" cake tin (note 6) 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 and the volume of the egg white doubles, add the remaining sugar in 2-3 batches and beat further to make meringue.

When the meringue becomes firm and it can form a peak when you lift 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 with a whisk until the batter becomes 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 in the tin.

Cook in the oven at 180°C/356°F for 25 minutes. Insert a thin bamboo skewer in the centre of the cake to see if the skewer comes out dry.

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

If making syrup, put the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Let it cool.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Wipe the strawberries, remove the stems and halve 10 strawberries.

Slice the sponge cake horizontally in half, remove the top half and place it next to the bottom half.

Using a brush, coat the cut surface of the two sponge cakes with the syrup gently.

Drop about 3 heaped tablespoons of the whipped cream on the bottom half and spread to cover the surface. Fill with halved strawberries.

Drop about 4 heaped tablespoons of the whipped cream on and spread it to cover the strawberries and the edge.

Place the top half of the cake on it, syrup side down. Fill the gap with whipped cream.

(Optional) thinly coat the top and side of the cake with whipped cream. Leave the cake in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Fully cover the top and side of the cake with remaining whipped cream, leaving some for piping.

Put the remaining cream in a piping bag with a round nozzle. Squeeze out the cream to make mounds around the edge of the surface and place a strawberry on each mound.