Opéra Cake
Ingredients
- Joconde sponge: almond flour, powdered sugar, whole eggs, flour, egg whites, sugar, melted butter
- Coffee syrup: strong coffee and sugar
- Coffee buttercream: butter, egg yolks or pâte à bombe, sugar, espresso
- Chocolate ganache: dark chocolate, cream, butter
- Chocolate glaze, for the top
Developed in 1955 by French pastry chef Cyriaque Gavillon, the Opéra is built from thin layers of almond sponge (joconde) soaked in coffee syrup, alternated with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache, and finished with a thin chocolate glaze on top — traditionally decorated simply with the word 'Opéra' in gold or chocolate script.
Method
Make the joconde: whisk almond flour, powdered sugar and whole eggs until fluffy, fold in flour, then fold in a separately whipped meringue of egg whites and sugar; spread thin on trays and bake at high heat for a few minutes. Cut into three equal rectangles once cooled.
Make the coffee syrup by dissolving sugar in hot strong coffee; cool.
Make the ganache by pouring hot cream over chopped chocolate, letting it sit, then stirring until smooth and stirring in butter.
Make the coffee buttercream by creaming butter until fluffy and beating in a cooked sugar-egg base flavored with espresso.
Soak one joconde layer with coffee syrup, spread with half the ganache; top with a second soaked layer and spread with half the buttercream; top with the third soaked layer and spread with remaining ganache, finishing with the remaining buttercream on top.
Chill until firm, then spread a thin, smooth chocolate glaze over the top layer.
Trim the edges for clean, sharp sides and slice with a hot knife.
