Opera Cake

This is our 400th Recipe for the Day!!!

Sorry it took a week to get it out - we have been really ill!


This cake was said to resemble the Opera in Paris. It is a lot of worth, but really is worth the effort.


You are basically making a sponge, a coffee syrup, a creme de beurre and a ganache, then layering.


So here goes…

Jaconde Sponge

3 Egg whites. (You’ll use the yolks later)
15 g Caster Sugar
100 g Ground almonds
100 g Icing sugar (sieved)
3 whole eggs
30 g Sifted plain flour
30 g melted butter


Method

Whisk the egg whites until stiff
Add sugar a teaspoon at a time until glossy

Cover and set aside


Mix almonds and icing sugar in another bowl and whisk in the whole eggs until very frothy

Whisk in flour and the melted butter

Fold into the merangue in batches

Pour into a prepared tin and level the top

Bake for 5 - 7 minutes in a preheated oven , 200ºC, 400ºF, Gas 6 until golden and springy


Coffee Syrup

30 ml Hot water
2 teaspoons coffee
30 g Sugar

Heat the water in a pan and then add the other ingredients, leave to cool.



Chocolate Ganache



120 g 56% Chocolate
120 ml double cream

Heat the cream until it is very hot, but not boiling

Add chocolate pieces and stir carefully, adding until everything is mixed

Leave to cool


Creme de beurre

3 egg yolks
220 g Melted butter
75 g Caster sugar
3 tablespoons water (ONLY 3)

Put the yolks in a bown and whisk gently

Put the sugar and water in a pan and carefully bring to a boil to create a syrup, which you then allow to cool for a few minutes.

Pour the syrup into the egg yolks while whisking and then add the butter, little by little.


To create the cake

Take your sponge and cut carefully four pieces of identical size

Lay one slice on a platter or serving plate and brush some of the coffee into it.

Then a layer of Creme de beurre (Half the total)

Then another sponge

Brush with more coffee

Then a layer of Ganache (About half of it

Another layer of sponge

Brush with coffee

The second layer of Creme be beurre on this

A final sponge layer

Ganache to cover the top