Classic Opera Cake

Oftentimes, friends would come up to me and say how great I am at baking. I would appreciate the thought and smile weirdly, being the person that I am who's bad at taking compliments... but I really do believe that anyone can bake anything if they really wanted to. A little patience definitely goes a long way, so does being organised and cleaning things as you go.

This opera cake is certainly a good example of this; all the components itself are pretty straightforward stuff- making the joconde, buttercream and simple ganache. But it does get a little messy when you have to rinse your electric beaters 3 times, constantly rinse spatulas, getting things in and out of pantry/fridge, and in my case, trying to take photos as you go through the process with buttery fingers (ugh) etc. If you're new to making layer cakes like these, I'd recommend making all the parts except the top chocolate glaze one or two days beforehand. Then you'll enjoy the step of assembling your fortress a whole lot more with all the washing, baking, beating and mixing aaaall over and done with and behind you. I was sort of in a rush so didn't have the luxury to do that, it took me around 5 hours in total from start to finishing assembling with washing up in between baking times and whatnots. The pleasure for me was the next day when the top glaze was firm and I could cut the messy sides to reveal the beautiful layers created by yesterday's hectic hours. Ah, and of course, 'taste-testing' those crunchy side bits. Yum.

My first homemade opera cake was actually this green tea one, so I was excited to try out the original version with coffee buttercream. Plus my friend's birthday was coming up and they really like my tiramisu but after days of imagining how to make tiramisu look realistically appealing as a whole cake, I found myself in a dead end but the opera cake was indeed the answer with its similar taste and texture to a tiramisu (with the coffee soaked joconde) with a more impressive visual appeal.

For my friend's belated birthday celebration, we went to this awesome park (Blaxland Riverside Park) for a BBQ, it had amazing views, great playground and a water park. We had a quick supermarket run beforehand and bought all the stuff to cook with us. Because we were impatient hungry teens, we probably ate one or two slightly undercooked chicken skewers. We all brushed it off and just joked around saying we'll see each other in the hospital tomorrow all sick with salmonella! We had so much fun getting all drenched with no change of clothes and lying in the sun for hours but boy, there were consequences. We all look like burnt brownies now...

Opera cake

Recipe Adapted from Closet Cooking

Makes an 18cm square cake

For the Almond Joconde:

4 large egg whites (room temperature)
2 tbs granulated sugar
1 1/3 cup ground almonds
1 1/3 cup icing sugar (sifted)

1 1/3 tbs cocoa powder

4 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbs unsalted butter (melted and cooled)

1. With a ruler, draw a 36cm x 18cm rectangle on two sheets of parchment paper. Turn upside down   and use to line 2 large baking trays and grease it with butter.

2. Beat the egg whites in a bowl until they form soft peaks.
3. Add the sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy.
4. Beat the almonds, icing sugar, cocoa and eggs in another bowl until light and voluminous.
5. Add the flour and beat until the flour is just combined.
6. Fold the meringue into the almond mixture.
7. Fold in the butter.
8. Pour the batter into the pan. Use the drawn lines as a guide but go over it a little because you want a final cake size to be an 18cm square after trimming.
9. Bake in a preheated 425F (215C) oven until lightly browned and just springy to the touch, about 5-9 minutes.
10. Run a knife along the edges to loosen the cake form the pan.
11. Cover the cake with parchment paper, flip and unmould the cake.
12. Peel of the parchments paper flip and cover the cake while it cools.

For the Coffee Syrup:

1/3 cup water

2 tsp sugar

1.5 tsp (or more) coffee granules

1. Warm water in saucepan or microwave and dissolve the sugar and granules

For the Coffee Buttercream:

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg whites
3/4 cups unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1 1/2 tbs warm water

1-2 tbs coffee granules (depends how strong you want the flavour of the buttercream)

2 tbs nutella (or any other chocolate hazelnut spread)

1. Dissolve coffee granules into the water and set aside.

2. Whisk the sugar and matcha into the egg whites in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until the mixture is hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. (The sugar should be dissolved and the mixture should look like shiny marshmallow cream.)
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat until the cream is cool, about 5 minutes.
4. Beat in the butter one stick at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Beat in the coffee mixture and nutella and beat the mixture until it thickens and becomes smooth, about 5-20 minutes.

For the Chocolate Ganache:

120g dark chocolate (chopped)
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 cup pure or heavy cream

1. Melt the chocolate into the heavy cream in a double boiler.
2. Set the ganache aside and let cool completely.
3. Whip the heavy cream in a large bowl.
4. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate ganache.

5. Refrigerate until used.

For the Dark Chocolate Glaze:

80g dark chocolate (chopped)

2 tbs heavy cream

20g butter

1 tbs honey

1. Melt all the ingredients in a double boiler or in a microwave in initially 30 second bursts then 10 second bursts until melted.
2. Let cool slightly and use immediately

To Assemble:

1. Work on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2. Cut the cake into 4 even pieces, trimming any crunchy unusable sides
3. Place 1 sheet of the cake onto the baking sheet and moisten with syrup.
4. Spread 1/2 of the buttercream over the cake.
5. Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the buttercream and moisten with syrup.
6. Spread the chocolate ganache over the cake.
7. Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the ganache and moisten with syrup.
8. Spread the remaining buttercream over the cake.
9. Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the buttercream and moisten with syrup.
10. Pour the glaze over the cake, letting it flow naturally (minimise the use of spatula)
11. Refrigerate until it sets, at least an hour
12. Trim the sides to get a smooth finish 

The birthday girls ! 

I love them. Loads.

I do realise this has been one heck of a long post, thanks for making it through the end and hope you guys try it out, it is an awesome cake. Best served when taken out of fridge about an hour before serving though! See you soon. x