I was terrified when I saw this recipe. It was **6** pages long!! I’m still terrified of this recipe! I loooove baking, but I don’t care for recipes that carry this many steps – I mean, that’s THAT many DIFFERENT places for my baking-red-thumb to go nuts. I think I still need more practice with this recipe! I could’ve had more practice with this recipe if I hadn’t procrastinated. I really was frightened! All in all it came out well. (please forgive the awful quality of my pictures!!! I thought I had white balanced well enough, but the dim lighting masked the appropriate WB).

I made a few (allowable!) modifications -

1. I used all hazelnut instead of almonds. I love hazelnuts and I thought I would love this cake. I certainly did. The cake was incredible! I think it needed a little longer in the oven though. It was springy to the touch, but only spotty brown – now I know to leave it in a little longer.
2. I skipped the glaze and instead added a little bit of syrup to the mousse, which, sadly, was not mousse-y at all. I need to work on my mousses This was my first experience with one!
3. I made 4 mini cakes instead of the one large cake. I thought that would be an appropriate size for two people to share.
4. My syrup consisted of a teaspoon each of almond and lemon extract – tasty!
5. I topped with sprinkled cinnamon, which I thought was going to look a lot lighter on the cake than it actually did!!

Special thanks to Lis, Ivonne, Fran and Shea for picking such a cool recipe for this month and for getting it all typed up and ready for us to bake with! And of course, to see the rest of the fabulous Daring Bakers’ creations, head on over here and check ‘em out! I really can’t wait to see whats in store for us next month!

And now for the recipe – grab a seat

The Daring Bakers’ Opéra Cake
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Paris Sweets and Tish Boyle’s and Timothy Moriarty’s Chocolate Passion.

For the joconde:

6 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp. (30 grams) granulated sugar
2 cups (225 grams) ground blanched almonds
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. (1½ ounces; 45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425◦F. (220◦C).

Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.

If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.

Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to overmix here!!!).

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.

Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.

Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.

Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.

For the soaking syrup:

½ cup (125 grams) water
⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 to 2 tbsp. of the flavouring of your choice (i.e., vanilla extract, almond extract, cognac, limoncello, coconut cream, honey etc.)

Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

For the buttercream (The recipe for the buttercream that is listed here is based on the original. When testing the buttercream, we tested a slightly modified version that had 2 cups sugar, ½ cup water and 1¾ cups butter. The eggs remained the same. We ended up with a very creamy buttercream. But we don’t want anyone to be afraid of our modified version so you have the option of using the original above or the quantities we’ve listed here in this note):

1 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar (Used to say 2 cups but should be 1 cup)
¼ cup (60 grams) water (Used to say ½ cup but should say ¼ cup)
seeds of one vanilla bean (split a vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds) or 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¾ sticks (7 ounces; 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature (Used to say 1¾ cups of butter but it should be 1¾ sticks).
flavouring of your choice (a tablespoon of an extract, a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate, citrus zest, etc.)

Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.

Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225◦F (107◦C) (Note: The original recipe instructs to heat the syrup to 255◦F (124◦C). We heated it to 225◦F and it worked just fine. However, if you are concerned, then by all means heat your syrup to 255◦F.) on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.

While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.

When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don’t worry about this and don’t try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden!

Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).

While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass.

With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.

At this point add in your flavouring and beat for an additional minute or so.

Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it’s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes).

For the ganache/mousse:

7 ounces white chocolate
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. heavy cream (35% cream)
1 tbsp. liquer of your choice (Bailey’s, Amaretto, etc.)

Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tbsp. of heavy cream in a small saucepan.

Stir to ensure that it’s smooth and that the chocolate is melted. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse.

If it’s too thin, refrigerate it for a bit until it’s spreadable.

If you’re not going to use it right away, refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

For the glaze:

14 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream (35% cream)

Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream. Whisk the mixture gently until smooth.

Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. Using a long metal cake spatula, smooth out into an even layer.

Place the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.

Enjoy!

It’s that time again! Except this time I feel like a fool. Somehow I had it in my head that this month’s posting was to be done on the 31th (last day of the month, just like last month, which was my first time participating). But my assumption was wrong, and I just realized it today. I went to a few of my favorite DB‘ers sites and saw that they had put theirs up yesterday. I initially thought that they must’ve been breaking the DB rules, (gasp!!) but it was I that hadn’t paid attention. To my fellow DB’ers, I apologize!

I have only made a layer cake on one other occasion, and I think that my layers were merely the two 9″ rounds stacked on top of one another with a bit of frosting in between. This was far fancier!

Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts had made the executive decision this month that we were going to make Dorie Greenspan’s Celebration Cake, which came out of her book Baking: From my Home to Yours. When I saw that we were basically given the option to do whatever we wanted (within cakes, now), I was thrilled! Then overwhelmed. What flavor and color combinations would I choose? What decorations (if any) would I use? I’m the kind of person that will do well with, say, two or three choices. But given endless opportunities, my mind goes numb with exhaustion. And it did in this case. So, I deviated from the original recipe in almost no way. Very creative, I know. I did add some colorful little sprinkles to the cake batter, which, if you’re not sure what you’re looking at can appear to look like mold. Or other colorful little additives. But they are just mini sprinkles in the spirit of celebration! I followed her cake recipe to the letter, although I did add about 1 tsp of almond extract just cause.

I’m most happy with the fact that I didn’t deviate from her buttercream recipe. It is by far the best I’ve ever had. I know there’s like 400 lbs of butter in it, but it just doesn’t taste all that heavy. It really has great flavor, which I hope to spice up soon with some different extracts/citrus.

I used seedless red raspberry preserves between the layers, with the buttercream as well. That spread quite nicely and really made for a nice color contrast against the light cake and buttercream. To add some “flair” I put fresh raspberries on top of the sweetened – shredded coconut smotherings. I wish I had been clever enough at the time to add some lemon peel shavings…

I have the cake all packaged up and ready to go to work with me in the morning. I had to stop at just one piece of this amazing cake – it really was THAT good. I’m sure everyone at work will agree.

Here’s the recipe:

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour (updated 25 March)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Mmm, mmm, good…

This bread was really easy to make – as long as you have the right proportion of flour to water. That wasn’t the case with the first attempt. The dough was just too wet and didn’t give the right rise, and definitely made things interesting when it came to shaping and scoring. I had added a little bit of flour, but that wasn’t enough. I guess I was thinking that this batter was supposed to be pretty “wet” the first time around. The second attempt was a definite success. The recipe gives a little ‘wiggle room’ when saying how much water to use, and I was definitely more conservative the second time. The dough was just as it should be, springing back as I poked at it after adequate mixing. I preheated the oven for about 15 minutes with the door open to create a warm environment, and the bread rose very quickly – about 3-3.5 hours. After turning the dough out, and degassing it, I placed it back in the container where it rose to just about triple again in less than 1.5 hours! I decided to do two medium boules – mainly because I needed more experience with their shaping. Slashing was much easier with a firmer dough The boules plumped up beautifully in the oven. They baked for about 23 minutes and it was agony waiting for the two hours to pass to finally cut into these beauties. But somehow I managed by watching the food network and writing the post for my Tuesday’s With Dorie challenge.

The crumb is fantastic – chewy and light. I had a toasted slice this morning for breakfast, with cheddar cheese on top. I was in heaven! I can imagine, however, that eating too much of this bread could wreak havoc on the roof of your mouth. But every now and then, that’s not a bad thing! This is the perfect bread for a soup bowl! Today the low temp is ~21 degrees F, so maybe that will be my dinner? I’ll just have to re-heat it at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes so that the dough softens up some and the crust crisps!

I’m so glad that Mary and Sara suggested this french bread as our challenge. I really enjoyed the experience, and definitely learned a whole lot. I can’t wait to see what the other DB’ers have created!

Update – I had frozen the boule (and a half) that I had left over, and one night when hubbs was sick, I defrosted one in the oven and warmed it up, and turned it into a bread bowl for some hearty clam chowder. I used the other half as dippin’ material, and he even commented on how tasty it was and how crisp the crust was. I just wish I had the forethought to take a picture!! Yay for bread!