Opéra
Six layers: almond sponge soaked in coffee syrup, coffee buttercream, chocolate ganache, repeated, and a poured glaze. Every layer must be flat.
Photograph credit: Opera Cake by kimberlykv · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Make Ahead and Storage
Refrigerated for 4 days and it improves for the first two. It freezes for a month.
Photograph credit: opera cake and masala ice cream by David Blaine · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
How to Make Opéra
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Whisk the ground almonds, icing sugar and whole eggs for 8 minutes until pale and tripled. Fold in the flour, then the whites whipped with the caster sugar, then the melted butter.
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Spread thinly over two lined 30 x 40 cm trays and bake at 220°C / 425°F for 7 minutes only. Cool, then cut into three equal rectangles.
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Boil the espresso and sugar, cool, and add the liqueur.
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For the buttercream, boil the sugar and water to 118°C / 244°F, pour onto the whisking yolks, and beat until cool. Beat in the butter and the coffee.
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Melt the ganache chocolate into the hot cream, add the butter, and cool until spreadable.
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Layer in a frame: sponge, soak with syrup, half the buttercream, sponge, syrup, ganache, sponge, syrup, the rest of the buttercream. Chill 60 minutes between each layer.
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Melt the glaze chocolate with the oil, pour over the chilled cake, tilt to level, and chill 120 minutes. Trim all four edges with a hot knife.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Knowing
- Chill between every single layer. This is a two-day cake.
- Seven minutes for the sponge — it must stay flexible.
- Trim the edges with a hot knife for the stripes.
Behind the Recipe
Everything depends on each layer being genuinely flat and each one being set before the next goes on, so this is a dessert made over two days and chilled between every stage. The joconde sponge is baked thin and fast — seven minutes — so it stays flexible enough to layer without cracking. Trim the edges with a hot knife at the end, which is what gives the clean striped section the cake is judged on.
Serving Ideas
Espresso · Nothing else at all · A very small glass of cognac
Quick Answers
How long does Opéra take to make?
1 hour 15 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking, plus 3 hours of chilling between every layer, so allow 4 hours 40 minutes from start to finish. The method also needs time for cooling the sponge, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 12.
Opéra Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 1 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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