So at long last we get around to the opera cake tutorial I’ve been meaning to put up for a week. What can I say, I’m easily distracted by food science. And chocolate, well, it’s terribly interesting stuff. You’ll thank me for all those posts later, I promise you. Well…maybe not. So anyway, opera cake. […]
READ ONThis will require 6 ounces of a good Euro-style bittersweet chocolate (like Callebaut or Ghiradelli) and one ounce of clarified butter. Tempering chocolate isn’t terribly difficult, but it does require precise control of temperature. You’ll need a digital thermometer, they’re less than $20 at most kitchen supply stores. If you don’t want to go to […]
READ ONAll of the buttercream recipes I have up on the site can accommodate flavorings of various kinds. Since Opera cake is a French invention, it only seems appropriate to start with a French-style buttercream. To make a coffee-flavored buttercream, prepare a mixture of two tablespoons of instant coffee or instant espresso powder dissolved in two […]
READ ONA standard ganache is a 50-50 combination of bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream (or crème fraîche) by weight. This one is slightly firmer, calling for 10 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and 8 ounces of cream. You may feel free to swap out an ounce of rum or Grand Marnier for an equal amount of cream…if […]
READ ONThis is just standard cake syrup but with a little zing. Remember that cake syrup is made by combining water and sugar 2-1 by volume and then heating it until the sugar dissolves. To make coffee cake syrup combine 1 cup of water with half a cup of sugar and add about three tablespoons of […]
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