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 until whitish and thick.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until small bubbles form, then add the remaining sugar and beat until meringue forms.

Add the flour to the beaten egg yolk and fold the batter with a spatula.

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

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.

Cook in the oven at 180°C/356°F for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out dry.

Let the cake cool upside down on a rack.

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

Whip the cream until soft peaks form and prepare the strawberries.

Slice the cake horizontally in half and coat with syrup.

Spread cream on the bottom half and fill with strawberries, then cover with more cream.

Place the top half on and fill gaps with cream, optionally thinly coat the top with cream.

Fully cover with remaining cream and pipe on mounds of cream with strawberries.