Gâteau Opéra

It has a very good shelf-life, as it is made in a slab and can be cut to any size as required and, if constructed correctly, looks absolutely stunning.

The key is to ensure that each layer is completely flat throughout.

We charge £1.80 per portion.

Basic ingredients

4 flat sponge sheets (joconde), approximately 4mm thick, coffee syrup (see recipe), coffee butter cream, ganache, chocolate glaze

Ingredients for coffee syrup

Sugar syrup (½ sugar, ½ water): 500ml

Instant coffee (dissolved in a little boiling water): 5 tablespoons

Brandy to taste

Method

1 Place a sponge sheet on a sheet of silicon.

2 Brush generously with coffee syrup - we flavour ours with brandy.

3 Spread out a flat, even layer of buttercream, approximately 3mm thick (see hint). Place the second layer of sponge carefully over the buttercream and soak with coffee syrup.

4 Spread an even 3mm layer of ganache over the second layer of sponge. Place on the third layer of sponge. Again, soak with coffee syrup and cover with buttercream (as steps 1-3).

5 Place on the fourth layer of sponge and soak. Spread on a last 3mm layer of ganache: the surface should be very flat at this stage. Refrigerate to set. The cross section should now have nice parallel and even layers.

6 Carefully trim the edges so that they are true.

7 Lastly, spread a thin layer of shiny chocolate glaze over the surface.

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