Paris, France
Opera cake
Almond sponge, coffee syrup, buttercream and ganache, stacked sharp enough to impress a pastry chef.
180 minTime
7 gProtein each
mildSpice
Layers named after the opera house2 chapters · 1 min readMake it your way
Grandma's wayThe original. Handle with reverence.
The original474kcal
7 gprotein
3 gfibre
180minutes
Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table. Grandma's way is the starting point the other versions are compared with.
Ingredients
Method
7 steps- 1Heat the oven to 210 C and line two large trays. Whisk the ground almonds, 70 g sugar and whole eggs for 5 minutes, then fold in the maida.
- 2Whisk the whites with 30 g sugar to glossy peaks, fold into the almond batter, then fold in 20 g melted butter. Spread thinly over both trays and bake 6 to 7 minutes.
- 3Boil 150 ml water with 60 g sugar and stir in 8 g coffee for the syrup. Cool.
- 4For the buttercream, boil 100 g sugar with 50 ml water to 118 C. Pour in a thin stream onto the yolks while whisking, then whisk until cool. Beat in 200 g butter bit by bit and 7 g coffee dissolved in a few drops of hot water.
- 5For the ganache, pour 150 g hot cream over 150 g chocolate, wait 2 minutes, stir smooth and cool until spreadable.
- 6Cut the sponge into three equal rectangles. Layer: sponge, syrup, buttercream; sponge, syrup, ganache; sponge, syrup, buttercream. Smooth the top and chill 1 hour.
- 7Melt the remaining 100 g chocolate with 10 g butter, pour over the top and spread once. Chill 30 minutes, then trim the edges with a hot knife.
Serve it like this
Cut neat rectangles with a hot knife and lay each slice on its side to show the layers, with a tiny cup of strong coffee.