Opera!!!

No, not theatre, the cake, among one of my favourites actually~ What is an Opera cake you ask?

"Opera gateau is an elaborate almond sponge cake with a coffee and chocolate filling and icing."

---Larousse Gastronomique, completely revised and updated, [Clarkson Potter:2001] (p. 814)
 
Sounding good? Well here's some pictures of my first time making it along with the recipe, which i got from http://joepastry.com/index.php?cat=167, the recipe for the entire thing is all split up into it's components, so I'll just re-post it all in one piece. I highly recommend you look at his recipe, cause there's pictures of almost every step, instead of my crappy pictures. I highly suggest splitting this recipe into two days. The first day I baked and prepared the Joconde for the next day, and I made the coffee buttercream and coffee syrup, then the second day all I had to do was make the ganache then put it all together and then make the glaze and pour it on.
 
Joconde Recipe

6 room-temperature egg whites
1 ounce granulated sugar
8 ounces sliced blanched almonds, ground to powder in a food processor
8 ounces powdered sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
2.5 ounces all-purpose (AP) flour
1 1/2 ounces clarified butter, melted

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two half-sized sheet pans (jelly roll pans) with parchment and brush with melted butter.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the egg whites to soft peaks, add the sugar, and continue to whip to stiff peaks. Scrape the meringue into a bowl.
3. Wash the bowl of the mixer and dry it, and switch to the paddle attachment. Beat the almonds, powdered sugar and eggs on medium until they're light and increased in volume, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer down to low and add the flour, stirring just until it disappears.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the meringue.
5. Lastly, fold in the clarified butter.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans, spreading it as evenly as possible over the two pans.
7.  Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the layers are lightly browned. The layers can be refrigerated for one day or frozen up to a month.

Tempered Chocolate Glaze Recipe

(expensive stuff)

1. This will require 6 ounces of a good Euro-style bittersweet chocolate (like Callebaut or Ghiradelli) and one ounce of clarified butter.
2. 
   
   Put the chocolate into a glass or crockery bowl. Melt in the microwave in the same way you'd melt chocolate for a ganache, zapping it on high for bursts of 10 seconds or so. Meanwhile, prepare two bowls of water that the chocolate bowl will fit into comfortably. Fill one with ice water, and one with hot water.
3. 
   
   When the chocolate mixture is finished melting it will likely be over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Leaving the thermometer in the chocolate, dip the bowl of chocolate into the bowl of ice water and stir until the temperature comes down to between 80 and 84 degrees (it will start to firm). Immediately put the chocolate into the hot water bowl and bring it back up to right about 89 degrees.
4. 
   
   Remove the chocolate bowl from the hot water and immediately stir in the clarified butter. Promptly spread a thin layer of chocolate over your cake with an icing spatula and allow it to set.

French Buttercream
6 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 pound unsalted, soft butter

1. Prepare a mixture of two tablespoons of instant coffee or instant espresso powder dissolved in two teaspoons of boiling water. Allow it to cool, then start on the French Buttercream.
2. Start by putting your room temperature yolks into the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the whip attachment. Turn the mixer on high and whip the yolks for five minutes or so, until they appear light in color and somewhat foamy.
3. While the mixer is going, prepare your sugar syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring them up to 248 degrees Fahrenheit. Oops, this is a little hot.
4. Immediately pour the syrup into a pyrex measure for easier handling.
5. Start drizzling the syrup into the yolks a little at a time. Do it with the motor off so as not to splatter it all onto the sides of the bowl where it won't do your buttercream any good. Drizzle a little, run the machine a little, drizzle a little, run the machine a little until all the syrup is incorporated.
6. Whip this sweet yellow "foam" until it's cool...about room temperature. Once that's achieved, switch to the paddle (beater) attachment and start adding your butter, a piece or two at a time until it's all in.
7. Beat the coffee mixture into the finished buttercream along with one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Opera Cake Ganache Recipe (i changed the proportions because the first time I made it, I had tons left over)

1. So then, start by putting 5 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, in a microwave-proof bowl. Pour in 4 ounces of heavy cream. You may feel free to swap out an ounce of rum or Grand Marnier for an equal amount of cream.
2. And insert in the microwave. Here I must emphasize that a microwave must be used judiciously where chocolate is concerned. Several short bursts on "high" are what's required, as opposed to one or two long ones. I start with a 30-second zap, stir, and then use as many 20-second blasts as I need after that (generally about 4 for this much ganache).
3. Another 45 seconds and we have touchdown. The ganache emulsion-with-a-suspension has been achieved. Some crystallization, however, is important for a ganache, which is why a warm ganache should always be allowed to sit at room temperature for at least a few hours.

Coffe-Flavored Cake Syrup Recipe

This is just standard cake syrup but with a little zing. To make coffee cake syrup combine 1 cup of water with half a cup of sugar and add about three tablespoons of instant coffee or instant espresso powder. Bring the mixture to a simmer and...done! Cool and store in the refrigerator until needed. It'll keep well for a week or more.

Opera Assembly

1. Begin by trimming the edges off your two joconde sheets. Once that's done, measure them and cut them in half. The exact dimensions are less important than making sure they're all the same size. You want four layers, which is traditional for an Opera cake. You want the "up" side of the joconde layers (when they were finished baking) to remain their "up" side, as they're more porous and will more easily absorb the syrup.
2. Job one is to apply a thin scraping of melted chocolate to the underside of the bottom layer. Remove it to a separate sheet of parchment, flip it over and spread the good stuff on. Let it firm for a few minutes, then place it in the refrigerator for a few more. What will this do? Besides adding still more deliciousness, it will ensure that the cake doesn't stick to the cake board when it's time to slice and serve. (This is an excellent, consequence-free opportunity to practice your tempering, should you be so inclined).
3. Flip it over onto your cake plate or cake board. Gently peel the parchment back, center it on the board and you're ready to go.
4. First thing, apply coffee syrup to your layer, and don't be shy about it. Thoroughly soaking the layer will give the cake the melt-in-the-mouth texture that Opera cakes in Paris are known for.
5. And now for your first layer of buttercream. Take your time, and pay special attention to the edges. As with all icing and/or topping jobs, the tendency will be to pile all the good stuff up in the middle. Spread the buttercream slowly and deliberately, eyeballing it from all sides to get it as even as you can. You want it about a quarter inch thick.
6. Apply your next layer of cake. Soak it.
7. Now it's time for your middle layer of ganache. Spread it thinner than the buttercream. Just a covering will do.
8. Apply the next layer of joconde. Soak it. Apply another quarter-inch layer of coffee buttercream. Again, check for evenness all the way around as you apply it.
9. Then the top layer of cake. Edges getting a little sloppy? Don't worry, you'll trim those off later. Check again for evenness. If you have any obviously high spots, it's OK to press them down a little with your palm at this point.
10. Soak, soak, soak.
11. And now for the top. Here you want just a thin scraping of buttercream, mostly to fill in any pits so the tempered chocolate top will lay on smoothly.
12. Prepare your tempered chocolate according to the tutorial. Or, if you just want to melt some bittersweet chocolate and put it on, that's fine too (if you've gotten this far, you've already done one heck of a job). Spread it on promptly and thinly.

13. Let the chocolate firm at room temperature for about ten minutes. Then, using a knife you've heated under hot tap water (then dried) slice off the edges to reveal the layers.
14. Once that's done it's time to score the top so it doesn't shatter later when you want to cut it. Again, heat a long knife under hot tap water, dry it, and do your business. Pieces can be any size you like. Now's the time to put your Opera cake in the refrigerator.

 et voila!