May 26, 2016
Rob
15

The Opéra cake

I admit I’m totally late in posting this on my blog: I made an Opéra cake for my friend’s New Year’s Eve party and now we’re almost in summer!

Recipe-Opera-cake34

Needless to say that this cake disappeared way before midnight! It is one of the best cakes I’ve tasted in all my life, even better than the versions I’ve bought here in France.

This is a super famous dessert sold in almost all pastry shops of France: it is made of layers of joconde spongecake, chocolate ganache and coffee buttercream.

illustration-opera

The Opéra was invented a few decades ago either by the French maison Dalloyau in 1955 or by Lenôtre in 1960 (they both claim the invention, although some say it already existed at the end of the 19th century!). Its name is probably due to the shape of the cake: a minimalist flat rectangle that looked like the stage of the Opéra Garnier theatre in Paris.

This is a “modern cake“, also called “entremet“: to simplify a lot, entremets are elaborate cakes with different layers. Take as an example my Royal chocolate cake: it is very different from traditional stuff like the Victoria spongecake (it is actually the opposite: the mousse on the outside hides the dacquoise on the inside).

For this kind of cakes, pastry chefs often use a joconde spongecake made with almonds and baked in thin layers.

In this recipe taken from my book “On baking”, I’ve also used a French buttercream: nothing difficult about this, but it requires a thermometer because the eggs must be pasteurized with a sugar syrup.

In short, the Opéra is a rich cake: it is very intense in flavour (coffee and chocolate!) and you should probably keep it for special occasions given the amount of fats (almonds, chocolate, butter) it contains. Nevertheless (and much to my surprise), it is extremely delicate and light… it was a real surprise and it was hard to stop eating it!

(Did I say “special occasion”? I just meant any weekend)

 

Opéra

Print recipe

Ingredients

Joconde spongecake

150gAlmond flour
180gGranulated sugar
45gCake flour
210gEggs (~4 eggs)
105gEgg whites (~3-4 egg whites)
45gUnsalted butter, slightly melted

Silky ganache deluxe

135gHeavy cream
42gGranulated sugar
42gGlucose syrup
160gBittersweet chocolate
42gUnsalted butter

Simple syrup

60gWater
60gSugar
30gCoffee liqueur
15gCoffee extract (or espresso coffee)
10gVanilla extract

Coffee buttercream

150gGranulated sugar
25gGlucose syrup
50gWater
50gEggs (~1 egg)
50gEgg yolks (~2-3 yolks)
210gUnsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoonVanilla extract
15gCoffee extract (or espresso coffee)

Directions

Joconde spongecake

1
Melt the butter and set aside to cool down
2
Combine the almond flour, 150g of sugar, cake flour and half of the eggs in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip attachment.
3
Whip the mixture for a couple of minutes. Stop the machine, scrape down the bowl, then whip 3 more minutes.
4
Gradually add the remaining whole eggs. Whip on medium speed 5 more minutes
5
In a clean mixing bowl, whip the egg whites and remaining sugar to medium peaks
6
Remove the bowl of almond mixture from the machine and fold in the melted butter using a spatula
7
Fold in one third of the whipped egg whites to lighten the batter
8
Fold in the remaining whipped egg whites trying not to deflate the batter. Do not overmix
9
Spread the batter (I am super precise so I weighed it: 245g) over a silicone baking mat placed on a sheet pan. Level it carefully with a long offset spatula.
10
Bake at 230°C until the joconde bounces back when lightly pressed, approximately 6-8 minutes (you must obtain 3 big layers of spongecake)

Coffee syrup

11
Bring the water and sugar to a boil for one minute
12
Let the syrup cool down then add the vanilla extract, the coffee liqueur and extract (or simply the same amount of espresso coffee)

Silky ganache deluxe

13
Bring cream, sugar and glucose to a boil
14
Pour the cream on the chopped chocolate in 3 times then use an immersion blender to incorporate the butter. Store momentarily in the fridge.

French coffee buttercream

15
Combine the sugar, glucose and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil
16
Place the eggs and egg yolks in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip attachment; start whipping on medium speed the moment the sugar syrup begins to boil
17
When the syrup reaches 120°C, increase the mixer speed to high and pour the syrup in a steady even stream down the inside of the bowl. Continue whipping until the mixture is cool and mousselike.
18
Reduce the speed to medium and gradually add the diced butter
19
Whip until light and aerated then add coffee extract (or the same amount of espresso coffee) and vanilla and stop mixing

Assembling the cake

20
Place the first layer of joconde spongecake on a sheet of parchment paper and then moisten it with the coffee syrup using a kitchen brush
21
Spread a thin layer of chocolate ganache on the joconde
22
Cover with another sheet of joconde and moisten again with the coffee syrup
23
Spread the coffee buttercream evenly so that it is roughly twice as high as the ganache layer
24
Cover with another sheet of joconde and moisten again with the coffee syrup. Freeze the cake for a couple of hours until hard.
25
Cover the last layer of joconde with a sheet of parchment paper and carefully invert the cake
26
Coat the top of the cake with a thin layer of ganache to seal. Freeze again for a few minutes if needed.
27
Warm the remaining ganache to 49°C and spread it evenly on top with an offset spatula
28
Trim the edges with a clean, warm knife (I soak it in a tall container full of hot water and then dry it with kitchen paper). Don't forget to clean the knife after every cut. Tip: sink the knife completely in the cake, then remove it by shifting it towards you, not upward!
29
Use the same method to cut all the different portions of the cake and serve!

 

More Posts Like This One