Opera Gateaux

Joconde ( you will need one and half of this recipe) 6 egg whites 50g caster sugar 280g almond meal 280g icing sugar 60g plain flour 6 eggs 60g butter melted

Coffee syrup 25g instant espresso powder 150ml boiling water 150g sugar 30ml Tia maria or Kahlua Butter cream 6 yolks 250g caster sugar 30ml water 450g butter 2 tsp clear vanilla extract. 20g coffee powder with 10ml boiling water

Ganache 350g dark chocolate 250g cream 20g butter

To make the Joconde Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease and line three 40 cm by 30 cm pans with baking paper or you can make thickers/more layers in smaller rectangle trays. Using an stand mixer, whip egg whites on high until they reach soft peak. Turn it to medium and sprinkle in the 10g sugar, every 30 seconds until it is all beaten in. Turn it back to high and beat to thick and glossy. Move mixture into another bowl once stiff peak is reached. In that same bowl, mix the almond meal, icing sugar, and whole eggs on medium just until the mixture becomes light and pale yellow. Fold in shifted

flour into the almond batter. Fold one scoop of egg white in to the almond batter to lighten it. Fold the remaining egg whites in to the lightened almond batter. Fold in the the melted, cooled butter into final mix. Divide the cake batter between the trays and bake the cakes for 5-8 minutes, until the surfaces spring back from a light touch. WATCH IT VERY CLOSELY!!! Prepare two cooling rack with a lining baking paper. You will use this to turn out the cake once they are baked.

Once the cake is baked place the baking paper on top of the tin then your cooling rack. With your oven gloves hold the cooking rack and tray and quick flip it to invert. Remove tin. Peel back the parchment paper and cover the cake with a tea towel to prevent it drying out. To make the espresso syrup: In a small saucepan, set over medium heat, combine all ingredients for the syrup and bring to boil. Allow to cool in the fridge for 20 minutes before stirring in the alcohol.

To make the coffee buttercream: Dissolve the espresso powder and boiling water and set the mixture aside for a moment. Place egg yolks in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, set aside. In a thick based saucepan, bring the sugar and water to boil. Continue cooking it until it reaches 118C on a candy thermometer. Begin to whip the egg yolks on hight. Remove the sugar syrup at 121C from the heat and allow the bubbles to disappear.

Once the egg yolks have become very light and pale yellow pour in the syrup in a thin stream, with the mixer running on medium. Once the syrup is incorporated, turn it to high and beat to cool. Change to beater attachment, on medium, add the butter, 20 grams at a time until it is fully incorporated into the buttercream. Add the cooled coffee mix and vanilla extract. The coffee buttercream is completely once it turns thick and fluffy.

To make the ganache: Chop your chocolate finely and place in a metal bowl. In a saucepan, set over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour on the chocolate. Leave to melt for 90 seconds. With a spatula gently stir the mix once it is all smooth. Add butter and combine. Divide the mix into two bowls, one with 1/3 and other with 2/3 of the mix. Allow the bigger bowl to set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Allow the smaller one to set at room temp.

ine a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide each layer cake in half and place one cake it on the baking sheet. Brush the cake with the espresso syrup. After cover this layer with the ganache about 1-2mm. Place another layer of cake on top and brush cake with syrup. After spread out the butter cream in an even 2-3mm layer. Repeat these step until all cake is used. Chill the cake for 1 hour.

For the glaze topping take the smaller bowl you set aside from the ganache. If it is too hard melt it over a warm water in saucepan until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cake. Fridge for 2 hours before cutting. Once cooled and set. Cut a 16cm by 16cm square from the cake with a warmed knife, cleaning it after each cut before service