Featuring coffee-soaked almond cake, coffee buttercream, and chocolate ganache are layered together to create a French masterpiece that’s equally stunning to look at and enjoy.
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00:00Hey everyone, it's Tia in the Delish Kitchen studios.
00:03Today we are back with a special holiday edition of Techniques with Tia.
00:07We are going to be making opera cake, one of my favorite French pastries.
00:12It's called opera cake because the layers of the cake resemble the rows of seats in an opera house.
00:19It might seem intimidating, but it is not.
00:22It is simply a collection of foundational techniques that you can learn one at a time.
00:27And once you learn them, you will be able to apply them to other desserts and be a true baking star.
00:33Let's get started.
00:39We're going to start by making a joconde, which is a whisked almond sponge that's leavened by egg whites.
00:45So to begin, we're going to start by whipping those egg whites.
00:50First, we're going to need to separate some eggs.
00:52So I like to separate my eggs by just cracking them into a bowl and then using a spoon to fish out the yolk.
01:00We do not want the yolk to break.
01:03We want this egg white to stay untainted by fat so it actually whips up for us.
01:09Into the mixer, we are going to go with our four egg whites and start whipping at low speed.
01:15We want to whip them at low speed so the network of bubbles is very small and very strong.
01:20We're looking for a strong meringue.
01:22When we're at this point, when they're foamy, we're going to start adding our sugar, about a tablespoon at a time.
01:28The goal here is a super fluffy meringue.
01:31You want to get those whites whipped to the point that they are ready to aerate your sponge in the oven.
01:36You want them to have somewhere to go.
01:38So we are going to stop when we hit medium peak.
01:41It's hard to tell if it's ready when you're just looking in the bowl.
01:44So you really do have to stop and hold up the whisk like this.
01:47And you really are sort of looking for that famous ice cream cone.
01:52Just right over.
01:54This is very, very close.
01:56If you have questions, less is always more.
01:59Look for that ice cream peak, and you're there.
02:02Now we are going to get these egg whites out of this bowl, into another bowl,
02:06and we are going to start working on the rest of the pieces of our joconde.
02:10We're going to start by cracking four eggs into the bowl.
02:14Like that.
02:16Eggshell!
02:18Pulling out.
02:20You know, some people say there's extra protein, but I prefer to avoid that.
02:23Here we go again.
02:26Going in.
02:28There we are.
02:29We are going to add almond flour and confectioner's sugar.
02:33And these should be pre-sifted, if you can.
02:36It's going to make a much finer, much better sponge.
02:41We're going to whisk this on medium speed until incorporated,
02:44and then we're going to kick it up to high and just let her fly.
02:47And, yeah, it just really does go for 10 minutes.
02:50And you are going to look at this and go, this will never get, like, fluffy.
02:54It actually will.
02:56Also, if you notice that there are some bits of powdered sugar,
02:59you can either take a spatula when the mixer is off,
03:02or you can kind of, like, try to nudge them down like that.
03:05It's not working. Turning off the mixer.
03:07You want everything completely dissolved before you kick up the machine.
03:11Now you get to walk away, do some dishes maybe, get yourself a drink, set a timer.
03:17Trust me, it will not be ready before eight minutes.
03:20So what we're looking for here is when we lift the whisk up,
03:37we are looking for a trail of ribbony sponge batter to stay on the surface
03:43for about five seconds before it dissolves.
03:46So sometimes you can tell just by seeing it fall off the whisk,
03:49but sometimes you need to, like, detach the whisk and, like, swirl it around
03:53and then go, woo, and kind of see.
03:55One, two, three, four, five. Good. All set.
04:02We are going to be adding just a little bit of all-purpose flour
04:05and some melted, cooled butter.
04:08The all-purpose flour is going to give it some more structure,
04:10and the melted butter is actually going to give it some more elasticity
04:14and just a little bit of richness that's going to make it basically a better bite.
04:23So at this point, we are going to add our meringue and fold it in by hand.
04:28You do not want to deflate these egg whites.
04:31These egg whites are what actually gives the cake its lift, okay?
04:37There's no baking powder, there's no baking soda.
04:39The air that you've whisked into these is the magic, so we don't want to lose it.
04:44We're going to get this out here so we can actually see what we're working with.
04:50And now we're going to add about two-thirds of the meringue.
04:54Just dollop it in there.
04:57Two-thirds.
04:59And gentle around and down to the middle.
05:07Okay.
05:09Be patient. Make sure you're getting at the bottom.
05:12That's very important.
05:15But this is a time for grace.
05:19This is a time if this is the opera, this is like the aria moment, okay?
05:24Like you do not want to be heavy-handed here, okay?
05:28And when you just see a few foamy bits, that's the time to add the rest.
05:38There. That's done.
05:41We are going to bake this in a single layer.
05:44So as you pour this, you are going to very carefully just let it come down.
05:51You're going to notice that this batter is not going to want to, like, spread itself.
05:56You're going to have to spread it.
05:58The evenness, the thickness of the cake that goes in is what's going to come out.
06:02It's not quite level.
06:04There are little dips that you can kind of see, but it's level enough, okay?
06:08This does not have to be perfection here.
06:10This is going to bake in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes.
06:14I recommend checking it at 14, and it might even take a minute longer.
06:19You don't want it to get brown and crispy around the edges, though.
06:23That's not the vibe we're looking for on this one.
06:26A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
06:29While our cake is baking, we're going to work on our other components of the opera cake.
06:33Next up is our ganache.
06:40Ganache is a combination of heavy cream and chocolate.
06:44Depending on the ratio and the proportion, you can get a consistency that's solid,
06:49and you can roll it into truffles, or you can also, like, use it as a glaze.
06:54Or once it's cool, you can whip it and use it as a buttercream.
06:57It's so good.
06:59Once you see that bubbling, it's good to go.
07:03Just make sure that it's not totally boiling.
07:05Otherwise, you might split the chocolate.
07:11Once we've poured that hot cream on top of the chocolate, we are going to say it together.
07:15We are not touching it for two minutes.
07:19Set a timer. Do whatever you got to do.
07:21I'm super impatient, so this is hard for me.
07:24But there's a good reason, okay?
07:26We need to let the heat from the cream thoroughly penetrate that chocolate and melt it.
07:31If we stir too fast, we release the steam, which releases the heat,
07:36and then the chocolate won't melt, and then it doesn't work.
07:39There are fixes.
07:41Most things in French pastry have a fix, so there are fixes if that happens.
07:45But make your life easier, save yourself the trouble, and just give it the two minutes.
07:50Once two minutes has passed, we are going to use a spatula to carefully just get in there
07:56and mix it all together.
07:59It's sort of a folding motion.
08:01Some people say to whisk it together, but you do not want to actually use a whisk to do that
08:08because it will create weird bubbles in your ganache.
08:11That's not what we're after.
08:12We're after silky smooth, over-luxurious chocolate sauce.
08:18At this point, we're going to set it aside and let it thicken up just slightly.
08:22You want it to be spreadable, not saucy, when you assemble your upper cake.
08:33Now it's time to make our espresso soak.
08:36So this espresso soak is very simple, but it is what is going to give those layers of jaconde all of that flavor.
08:44Into the pot, we are going to put our sugar, our espresso powder, and just a little water.
08:52And we are going to heat this on medium-low, just until it dissolves.
08:58We are not looking for bubbles.
09:00We don't want anything caramelizing here, goodness knows.
09:03We just want to get everything dissolved.
09:05Looks good.
09:07Now we're just going to pour it into a bowl and set it aside to cool.
09:11It will thicken as it cools, so just know that, but that's fine.
09:15That's what it's supposed to do.
09:21Super easy.
09:27Now we're going to make our French buttercream.
09:30Into the bowl is going to go our four egg yolks, which we have saved from the egg whites that we used for the jaconde cake.
09:38See? No waste.
09:40We are going to get this whisking at a high speed, just until they get a shade paler.
09:45Now it's time to get our simple syrup going.
09:49So, we are going to add our sugar.
09:55And our water to the pot.
09:58The reason we need to have the egg yolks whipped to the right consistency, and the sugar syrup at 240 at the same time,
10:05is that when that syrup hits that temperature, that is the perfect temperature for it to go into the egg yolks,
10:11so that our buttercream hits that correct consistency.
10:14If the sugar goes past that point, if the egg yolks aren't whipped, it's not going to happen.
10:21It's precise, but it's not hard, okay?
10:25Literally, all you have to do is read a thermometer.
10:28Once this hits that point, you are going to want to get the whisk going again,
10:33and you are going to want to pour between the side of the bowl and the whisk, okay?
10:38If you hit the side of the bowl, all your hot sugar syrup is just going to stick to the side of the bowl.
10:43If you hit the whisk, it might fly around the sides.
10:46It's not going to fly out. No panic.
10:48But you want to hit that sweet spot.
10:50Here we go. Ready to go.
10:53High speed. 240.
10:56Whisk going.
10:58Steady, steady hand. You can do this.
11:05So at this point, our buttercream base has reached room temperature,
11:08so we are ready to add in our room temperature butter.
11:13Here are the two things that can go wrong with a French buttercream,
11:16and you can fix both of them by simple temperature adjustment.
11:20If she's looking soupy, she's too hot.
11:23Throw her into the refrigerator for, like, 20 minutes, and then try again.
11:27If she is too curdley looking, like, you'll notice.
11:31It'll be a chonky buttercream.
11:33If she's chonky, just keep whipping it,
11:35because the heat from the friction of the whisk is going to melt the buttercream.
11:40Because the heat from the friction of the whisk will bring the temp up very gradually.
11:46Don't panic, and don't think you need to throw it out, ever.
11:49There's always a fix.
11:51At this point, we are ready to go in with our flavorings.
11:54So here I have some espresso powder that has been dissolved in just a little bit of water,
11:59and she is going to go straight in, and we're going to whip her up.
12:05And we're going to add a little salt,
12:07because this cake is rich, and it is sweet.
12:11And what goes well? Salt.
12:14Salt will bring out the flavor of the coffee.
12:16It's also going to amplify that chocolate flavor, too.
12:21Be careful when you turn on the mixer once you put the espresso stuff in,
12:24because it can tend to spatter.
12:26We're going to go on a very slow speed.
12:29Also, it's going to look like it's not going to mix in.
12:31It's going to look beady like this.
12:33This does not look good.
12:34Trust the process. It will mix in.
12:38Oh, and look at that. It's already happening.
12:40Now that she is done, we are going to keep her at room temperature until we're ready to build.
12:45I highly un-recommend putting this in the fridge, making this ahead of time.
12:51It's just so complicated to get it back to the right temperature
12:54and get it to a gorgeous spreading texture like it is now.
12:57So make it right before you're ready to assemble.
13:08We've let our cake cool, and now it's time for the assembly.
13:11This is low-key my favorite part,
13:14because you get to see how all of these things that you've worked on
13:17just come together to make the masterpiece.
13:20So, first thing we're going to do is we're going to cut our cake.
13:23We're just going to cut it in thirds like this.
13:26Now, you could totally eyeball it, but I am me,
13:30and so I'm using a ruler today.
13:33I'm going to make some hash marks down the sides at five-inch intervals.
13:46This is going to provide me the guideline for where to cut the cake into thirds.
13:51We're just going to cut straight across to that hatch.
13:56Go as straight as you can at this point,
13:59but if it's not perfectly straight, it's okay,
14:02because once we get the cake assembled, there's going to be a trimming stage,
14:06and at that part, you can make it perfect.
14:09You want to assemble this cake on a wire rack that's set over a baking sheet.
14:13That's going to allow you to glaze your cake neatly
14:16and provide a surface that will be easy to get the cake off of once it's set up.
14:21So now we're going to brush this sponge with about three tablespoons of espresso soak,
14:26or about a third of what you have in your bowl.
14:28You want to try to do this as evenly as possible.
14:31I try to set up tracks for myself,
14:33like left to right and rows all across the top of the cake.
14:37If your soak isn't even,
14:39you will end up with some parts that are darker than others when you cut it open,
14:45and that's, I mean, it'll be delicious still,
14:48and that's, I mean, it'll be delicious still.
14:51It just won't look as nice.
14:53This type of cake is a sponge cake.
14:55It's very light.
14:57There's very little fat in it,
14:59so it really needs the flavor of the soak and also the moisture.
15:04It's going to hold it really well, so don't be afraid to really get it in there.
15:08The next thing that we are going to do is add about half of our French buttercream to this.
15:14That's about a cup,
15:15but honestly, this is one case where you could probably eyeball it,
15:18and you'd be totally fine.
15:19You want to get a super even spread on this.
15:22Part of the beauty of this cake is those gorgeous, luscious layers that are so perfectly even,
15:28so this is the part that really counts in terms of the presentation.
15:32This buttercream, it's so beautiful.
15:35It's like the most delicious edible cement ever.
15:39French buttercream is one of those things that is super rich.
15:43That's why you will notice that the layers are very thin, actually.
15:48You don't want an uber-thick layer of this buttercream because it is so rich.
15:52The second layer is the thinnest one,
15:55and you might notice there's a tiny tear in this one.
15:58That's okay.
15:59I mean, we have edible cement right here to patch it back together, so it's all good, right?
16:04We are going to do just what we did before.
16:06We are going to add three tablespoons of the espresso soak,
16:09and then we're going to go in with some ganache.
16:14She is well-soaked, so time for the ganache.
16:18Now, this ganache has been sitting for a while.
16:21You'll notice it's a beautiful, spreadable texture.
16:24It's just basically the same texture as the buttercream, which is exactly what we're after.
16:30So we're just going to go on with that.
16:34Actually, I might go for a spatula.
16:38Spatulas with ganache can be more helpful.
16:42And we're using all of this ganache.
16:44This ganache only goes in one layer.
16:46The glaze goes on the top.
16:48So just dollop it all on and then spread it out.
16:53We are going for as even as we can.
16:56If your cake is slightly thicker in some areas than others,
17:01the ganache and the buttercream layers are your golden opportunities to even it out.
17:06Have them compensate for the uneven cake,
17:10because no whisked cake is perfect.
17:13Last layer.
17:14Well, last cake layer.
17:16Here we go.
17:19Oh, look at her. She's so beautiful.
17:21This is so satisfying.
17:23We're going to brush with three tablespoons of the glaze again.
17:29I'm switching up the pattern that I make,
17:31and that's just because I like methodicalness,
17:35but I don't like getting bored.
17:36And so when I have to do something three times,
17:38I like to do it three slightly different ways just to keep myself entertained.
17:42True story.
17:43Last layer of buttercream.
17:51That's pretty darn good.
17:52All right, we are going to chill this cake for at least an hour before we glaze it.
18:06Now it's time to make our glaze.
18:08You might notice this glaze is almost exactly like the ganache,
18:13except for two things.
18:15Number one, we are going to be using it when it is warm after we have just made it.
18:20And number two, we are going to add some corn syrup to it.
18:24And the corn syrup is going to give it this gorgeous shine and a little bit more elasticity.
18:30Into the pot we are going to go with our heavy cream just like before.
18:36And we are going to get that to a simmer.
18:39Just see those bubbles?
18:41And then it's going to go right over our chopped chocolate.
18:45All right, here we go.
18:49Over the chocolate.
18:53Two minutes. Set that timer.
18:55We've let this sit for two minutes,
18:57and now it's time to get it fully incorporated.
18:59And after it is totally smooth, we will add our corn syrup.
19:04Nope. There she goes.
19:08So the reason we are adding the corn syrup is to make that glaze super shiny and super glossy,
19:13even when it cools.
19:14Looking shiny and smooth, it's time to grab the cake and do that glaze.
19:18She's nice and cold from the fridge.
19:20You want her to be cold.
19:22That's the way she's going to glaze the best.
19:24Make sure when you do this that you have a little offset on hand or something to help spread with.
19:29Once the glaze goes on, it's going to harden fairly quickly because the cake is cold.
19:34So just know that and be prepared to go to work.
19:37The glaze adds that gorgeous presentational aspect to this cake.
19:42It's going to give it a beautiful, shiny, smooth top, a gorgeous finish.
19:46And it's also going to add that extra layer of chocolate flavor that will just balance everything out so well.
19:53You definitely want to cover the entire top of the cake.
19:57Some might go over the sides, and that is totally fine because we're going to come back,
20:03and after this glaze is set, we're going to trim it again.
20:06Perfection will come when you get the knife out and cut away everything, and then you get to eat the scraps,
20:10which is low-key one of my favorite parts.
20:13We are going to get this baby in the fridge for that hour, and then we're going to cut it and serve it.
20:24Look at this gorgeous cake.
20:26I know that it wasn't easy and it was a lot of work, but man, it was worth every single minute of waiting.
20:38Mmm.
20:40Wow. It is so good.
20:42You get the coffee and the chocolate together, and they are a match made in heaven.
20:48I know this cake was a lot of work, but it was so worth it.
20:52For this and other French classics, stick around on Delish.com.