It is one of my favorite cakes of all time, and it’s certainly one to try if you’re looking to hone your skills in patisserie.Ī cake such as this deserves a brief explanation of its history, although it is slightly murky. Its preparation calls for your time, patience, and a candy thermometer, but the end result is so worth the effort. It has been described as ‘elaborate’ which is true. This coffee lover’s dream-come-true is a six layer affair, stacked with three layers of almond sponge, soaked with espresso syrup and alternating layers of French buttercream and butter ganache. It’s worthy of any special occasion.Īh, Opera Cake. Before serving, use a serated knife to trim the four edges of the cake so that the layers are neat and the cake is perfectly rectangular.This classic French Opera Cake is made with layers of almond sponge, potent coffee syrup, French buttercream, and chocolate ganache. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours until it sets. You may need to heat the ganache a little so that the top sets smoothly Spread the remaining of the dark chocolate ganache over the butter cream neatly.

Place on top of the cake, with the buttercream facing up. Refrigerate the cake for 5 minutes, then spread another layer of dark chocolate ganache evenly and refrigerate for 5 more minutesįlip the last layer of the cake with the flat side up, brush twice with coffee syrup, then spread the other half of the buttercream over it with a spatula as neatly as you can.

Now spread a layer of the dark chocolate ganache over this cake layer as neatly and evenly as possible. Brush with coffee syrup generously twice again. Top with another cake layer (flatter side facing up). Spread half of the coffee buttercream evenly on this layer Using a pastry brush, brush the coffee syrup over the top of the cake generously twice. Take the chocolate spread layer from the freezer and place it on your cake board, with the chocolate side facing down.

French opera cake recipe