Opera Cake

Opera cake is one of those baking projects that will make you feel like a pastry chef superstar. 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.

Opera cake, or Gâteau opéra, is a traditional French patisserie dating back to the 20th century. Several claim to have popularized it, but all agree on one thing: Its name comes from the way the layers resemble the stories of the opera house.

Like most French classics, opera cake is made of several separate components assembled to create a dessert that’s more than the sum of the parts. None of these are difficult or take long to make—and a few can even be made in advance—but there are some tips and tricks to keep in mind. Here’s the lowdown on all those layers:

Cake:
The traditional cake for an opera cake is a whisked almond sponge called a joconde. Unlike modern cakes leavened with baking powder or soda, the joconde gets its rise from a combination of whole eggs beaten with sugar until super light and separately beaten egg whites. The recipe is a little step-heavy, but once it’s in the oven, the cake bakes in just 15 minutes. And as a bonus, you don’t need to worry about slicing the cake into horizontal layers like you might with a deeper American-style cake. Just cut the large rectangle into three smaller rectangles, and you’re good to go.

Coffee soak:
The simplest of all the components, this is just instant espresso powder, sugar, and water heated gently together until they dissolve. Make this up to 3 days ahead of assembly and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use.

Coffee French buttercream:
I won’t sugarcoat it: This is one of the trickier buttercreams. Made by steaming hot sugar syrup into beaten egg yolks, beating until cool, then whipping in chunks of room temp butter, this rich buttercream is best served in small portions and paired with strong flavors, which is why it’s traditional for this opera cake. Flavored with coffee, it’s the perfect contrast to the lighter cake and the strong chocolate.

My top tip? Don’t fear the process. Any nerves you have over the whole hot sugar syrup situation are infinitely worse than reality. Use a thermometer to ensure the syrup is at exactly 240°, keep the mixer on low as you pour, and aim for the area between the whisk and the bowl. You’ll be just fine.

This buttercream will solidify in the refrigerator, which is great for the structural integrity of the cake once it’s assembled but not helpful if you’re trying to get it back to a spreadable consistency. For this reason, I highly recommend making the buttercream the same day you’re planning to assemble the cake.

Ganache & glaze:
This is as easy as pouring hot cream over chocolate, letting it sit for 2 minutes, then stirring until smooth. Time and temperature are key here: once the ganache is made, it will need to cool until it solidifies to a spreadable texture. If your kitchen is warm, you can pop the bowl in the refrigerator to help expedite this process. Just don’t leave it too long: you don’t want it completely solidified.

The glaze is almost identical to the ganache, with two exceptions. First, this glaze has a little corn syrup in it to give it a gorgeous shine and soften the texture slightly once it’s chilled. Second, instead of letting it cool to a spreadable temperature, you’ll pour it over the top of the cake when it’s still warm enough to flow like lava.

Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below!