Opera cake set

In my humble opinion, there is very little that beats the combination of chocolate and coffee.  Not a surprise really, given I gravitate towards anything with a sniff of chocolate, and ever since I remember, turn to a morning cup o’ joe to habitually kick start my day.

Flicking through my Fundamentals pastry book, I was immediately glued to the multi-layered Opera Cake.  An elegant almond sponge cake (Joconde sponge), that is alternately layered with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache, then finished with a generous layer of chocolate glaze.  What could be better?

It all sounded simple enough.  Fortunately, given my pâte de fruits hiccup, it was — though admittedly, I did experience some pre-baking anxiousness with the sponge.  You see, I am extremely heavy handed – not an advantageous trait in a baker’s kitchen – and have shed many a heavy handed tear in the past.

I would not necessarily say I talk to myself when I am alone in the kitchen, but on occasion, I do utter the odd word of caution or encouragement as I tackle baking tasks that require careful attention.

So, with egg whites beaten, and the almond/egg mixture prepared, I ready myself for the ever critical mixing of the sponge.  I carefully fold in my egg whites, repeating the phrase, “light hands, Julia, remember light hands” over and over to myself, to keep me focused.

It seemed to do the trick.

The sponge was light, fluffy, and almost melted in your mouth.  According to my key taste tester, Mr Mélanger, it was my best ever sponge.  The almond flavour is subtle, so given the success, I am keen to experiment more with this recipe for larger sponge cakes, roulades and the like.

I also enlisted the support of Mr Melanger in the cutting of the cake.  Following the diagram in the book to create a diamond shape (common with the Opera Cake, along with the standard square), I somehow ended up with some very odd shaped parallelograms.  A swift turn of the cutting board, and a quick movement of the knife, et voilà, Mr Melanger effortlessly produced a diamond.  (Embarrassing!)

This is not a quick-to-produce petits fours treat.  Although preparation only takes 45 minutes, the time to complete (including chilling) is around 3 hours.  Though absolutely worth the planning ahead.  It will not be the last time I give this a whirl.

{ Opéra cake }

I made a few adaptations from the original recipe from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts. I opted to include two layers of coffee buttercream in favour of one vanilla and one coffee.  Also, as a time saver, I created both the ganache and glaze from the same base recipe, instead of producing two, slightly more involved, versions.

{ Joconde sponge }

* Ingredients *
175g icing sugar / confectioners’ sugar
40g cake flour
300g egg whites, room temperature
100g icing sugar / confectioners’ sugar
250g ground almonds

* Directions *
Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.  Prepare a 30x20cm (12 x 8 in) sheet pan with butter and parchment paper.  Sift the icing sugar and flour together, add the almond meal.  Set aside.  Make the meringue by placing the egg whites in the mixer and beat on low to form soft peaks.  Add the sugar, raise the speed, and beat until stiff peaks form.  Carefully fold into the flour-almond mixture.  Pour the batter into the sheet pan and smoothing it to an even layer.  Bake for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and invert the cake onto a clean wire rack.  Once cool, cut the cake crosswise into four equal pieces.

{ Simple Syrup }

* Ingredients *
125g water
65g granulated sugar

* Directions *
Stir ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

{ Coffee Buttercream }

* Ingredients *
100g granulated sugar
60g water
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons coffee extract

* Directions *
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan, and heat until sugar dissolves.  Without stirring, cook syrup reaches 124C or 255F.  While the sugar is heating, start beating the egg and egg yolk in a mixer.  Once the sugar is ready, pour the sugar slowly down the side of the bowl to incorporate with the egg.  Increase the speed and continue beating until the mixture has cooled.  Once cooled, begin adding the butter in pieces.  When it has all been incorporated, keep beating until mixture shiny.  At this stage, add coffee extract.  Refrigerate for 10 minutes to slightly harden for easier spreading.

{ Chocolate Ganache & Glaze }

* Ingredients *
400g dark chocolate
2 cup cream
50g unsalted butter, melted

* Directions *
Break up the chocolate into two bowls.  Heat the cream slowly until it boils.  Pour the cream evenly into the two bowls.  Gently mix to melt the chocolate.  To one bowl, also add the melted butter.  This will be the glaze.  Refrigerate for approximately 10-15 minutes to cool enough to spread.

{ Assembly }
Start with one layer of sponge cake.  Brush syrup across the surface of the cake.  Then add half of the coffee buttercream.  Top with another layer of sponge cake.  Chill for 5 minutes.  Remove from the fridge and brush the top layer of sponge with more syrup.  Top with a layer of chocolate ganache.  Top with another layer of sponge.  Chill again for 5 minutes.  Remove from the fridge once more and brush the top layer with more syrup.  Add the remaining coffee buttercream.  Top with the last layer of sponge cake.  Chill for 5 minutes.  Remove from the fridge, and then pour the should-be-easy-to-pour chocolate glaze over the entire cake.  Allow to settle, then return to the fridge for up to 1 hour.  (Can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)  When ready to serve, remove from the fridge, dip a sharp knife into hot water, wipe dry, and begin cutting the cake into neat, even shapes, taking care to cut all the way through and leave no ragged edges.  Serve within a few hours.