To make the cake: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Instead, make the full cake, cut it into smaller size cakes and stock them in your freezer.Ģ tablespoons (30 grams) granulated sugarĢ cups (225 grams) ground blanched almondsĢ 1/4 cups (225 grams) confectioners sugar, siftedģ tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled brieflyġ 1/2 tablespoons (7 grams) instant espresso or coffeeĢ tablespoons (10 grams) instant espresso or coffeeġ 3/4 sticks (7 ounces 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperatureĨ ounces (240 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely choppedĤ tablespoons (2 ounces 60 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperatureĥ ounces (150 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely choppedġ. If this is more cake than you need, don't cut down the recipe - you won't be successful with some of the cake's components, particularly the buttercream, if you reduce the quantities. It is obviously a rich cake, but it is surprisingly not a filling cake, and I'm convinced this is because Maestro Niau has orchestrated the cake's elements so perfectly.Ī note on size: This recipe makes a square Opera Cake that is a festive - and impressive - 10 inches (25 cm) on a side. Traditionally, the cake is decorated with its name written in glaze across the top and finished with a piece of shimmering gold leaf. There are three thin layers of almond cake, each soaked in a potent coffee syrup a layer of espresso-flavored buttercream one layer of bittersweet chocolate ganache and a topping of chocolate glaze.

The classic Opera Cake is a work in six acts. There, executive pastry chef Pascal Niau makes a cake as sleek and smooth as an opera stage and as gloriously delicious as La Boheme is affectingly beautiful. But the point about which there is no controversy is the only important point: The greatest Opera Cake is made at Dalloyau.

Some sources claim there was a type of Opera Cake sold in Paris as long ago as 1890, and some think the Parisian specialty was created closer to 1950. It is hard to say exactly who invented the Opera Cake.

Opera cake history