The  cake is a tribute to the Opéra Garnier in Paris, commissioned by Napoleon Bonaporate III who he never saw it. By the time it was opened in 1875, he was dead and buried and France had become a republic. The Palais Garnier, also known as the Opéra de Paris or Opéra Garnier (and more commonly as the Paris Opéra) is a 2,200-seat opera house on the Place de l’Opéra in Paris. It was designed by Charles Garnier in the Neo-Baroque style and is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of it’s time.  The cake was created by was created by

Louis Clichy, who named it  the Clichy but it was made famous by  the Parisian pâtisserie Dalloyau as the Opera cake and is now mostly known by that name. A decadently rich combination of delicate almond biscuit or joconde, chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream, and chocolate glaze, it’s very difficult to resist. You can make as many layers as you like but we have given you a recipe with three layers.

Ingredients

For the joconde

• 6 egg whites
• 30g caster sugar
• 225 g ground almonds
• 150g icing sugar
• 6 whole eggs
• 70g plain flour
• 45g butter

Method

• Preheat the oven to 220C and put the oven racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven.
• Line two 26 cm Swiss roll tins and grease with the butter.
• In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they are doubles in size and foamy.
• Add the caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time while whisking until the egg whites until they are thick and glossy.
• Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, icing sugar and ground almonds until thick and creamy for about 3 minutes.
• Sift over the flour and mix in gently.
• Do not overwork.
• Take a third of the egg white mix and fold into the almond mix to slacken it.
• Then carefully fold in the remaining egg whites, being careful not to knock out too much of the air.
• Melt the butter and fold into the batter.
• Divide the mix evenly between the two tins and spread out into an even layer.
• Bake for 5-9 minutes until lightly golden brown and springy to the touch.
• After removing from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the pans, cover the tops with a sheet of greaseproof paper and turn out onto a wire wrack.
• Peel away the base of parchment paper, but then leave it covering the cake and allow to cool.

For the syrup

• 125 g water
• 65g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, zest only
• ½ large lemon, juice only

Method

• Add all the ingredients together in a pan, stir and bring to the boil.
• Allow to simmer for a minute until the sugar has dissolved, remove form the heat and set aside to cool

Buttercream

• 100g caster sugar
• 10 g finest quality cocoa powder
• 60g water
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 200g butter, softened
• 1 flat tablespoon instant coffee (dissolved in a little water) or extra strong espresso coffee (ristretto)

Method

• Combine the sugar, water and coffee  in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved.
• Allow to simmer, without stirring, until the syrup has thickened.
• Meanwhile, whisk the egg and egg yolk in a clean bowl until they become thick, pale and doubled in volume.
• Slowly drizzle the hot syrup down the side of the bowl containing the eggs, and whisk continuously.
• Do not pour the syrup over the beaters or you’ll end up with spun sugar.
• Continue to beat the mixture until it become glossy, thick and cool to the touch – about 5 minutes.
• Gradually beat in the softened butter in small chunks until all combined.
• Put the buttercream in the fridge for 20 minutes to achieve a spread-able consistency, stirring every 5 minutes so as to set evenly.

Chocolate ganache top

• 200g darke chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
• 240ml double cream
• 1 tbsp coffee powder

Method

• Melt the chocolate and 3 tbsp of the cream in a small saucepan until smooth.
• Stir in the coffee flavouring.
• Whisk the rest of the cream until softly whipped.
• Fold into the melted chocolate and allow to sit and firm up before using.

For the glaze

(for immediate use)

• 110g dark chocolate
• 120ml double cream

Method

• Melt the chocolate cream together until very smooth.
• Whisk gently and allow to cool for 10 minutes until it has just started to thicken – use immediately while still warm and shiny.

Assembly

• Trim the sides away from the joconde sponges.
• Cut each sponge into one square and one rectangle.
• You will end up with two large squares and two rectangles that when joined together will make a third square.
• Place one of the cake square on a serving plate and drizzle over a third of the syrup.
• Spread on a third of the buttercream and top with the two rectangles, to form another square.
• Add another third of the syrup and butter cream and top with the final cake square.
• Spoon on the rest of the syrup and spread over the rest of the buttercream.
• Chill in the fridge until firm.
• Now spread the top layer with the ganache
• Make the glaze and pour over the top of the cake, smoothing it to the edges of the cake and leaving to set in a shiny layer.
• Do not touch the glaze once it starts to set or else it will loose its shine.
• Store in the fridge until required.