Classic Opera Cake

Today, I'm sharing how to make my all-time favorite cake: A classic opera cake.

Although this is not a quick & easy cake, do not worry! - I'm guiding you through each step with detailed tips, images, and a video so you can make it successful in the comfort of your home.

🤎 I love this opera cake because:

• It's rich and decadent but not too heavy.
• It's an authentic opera cake recipe that is true to the traditional style.
• It's not overly sweet.
• It's packed with pure aromas: The aromas of coffee, chocolate, almond, and cognac spread in your mouth!

Opera cake is one of my favorites, including moist chocolate banana cake and simple chocolate cake.

A king of chocolate cake:
This decadent coffee chocolate cake is packed with rich flavors. It's composed of thin layers of almond sponge soaked in coffee syrup, chocolate ganache, coffee cream, and chocolate glaze. They all melt in a mouth, leaving those amazing aromas.
It's called “A king of chocolate cake” for a reason.

🤎 In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:

• How to make a smooth ganache
• How to make coffee buttercream with Anglaise sauce
• Tips for assembling the cake beautifully
• The temperature of the chocolate glaze and how to spread it on top
• How to cut the cake properly to show the layers

... and so on.

Let's get started! 💪🏻

Jump to:

• 📌 What's In Opera Cake?
• 📌 How To Make Opera Cake
• 📌 How To Slice An Opera Cake
• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
• 📌 Lastly... ☕️
• 📌 Printable Recipe
• Classic Opera Cake
• 📌 Pin It!

📌 What's In Opera Cake?

Biscuit Joconde

• Make one batch of my biscuit Joconde recipe.

Coffee Syrup

• Ground coffee
  • I like to use dark roast coffee.
• Water
• Granulated sugar
• Cognac
  • You can omit it if you or your guests can not take alcohol. I recommend using it to enjoy the authentic opera cake taste.

Chocolate to spread on the bottom layer of a sponge

• Dark chocolate
  • I used 58% couverture chocolate. 
• Oil
  • It helps to thin out the glaze so that it spreads easier.

Mocha Buttercream

• Milk
  • We are making "coffee anglaise sauce" and mixing it into butter.
• Ground coffee
• Granulated sugar
• Egg yolks
  • Yolks add richness to the flavor. It also helps to thicken the anglaise sauce.
• Unsalted butter (soft)
  • Ensure the butter is very soft; It whips well and blends easily with other ingredients.

Ganache

• Dark chocolate (melted)
  • I used 58% couverture chocolate. I recommend the 50-60% range.
• Heavy cream
  • Use regular whole-fat heavy cream.

Chocolate Glaze

• Dark chocolate (melted)
  • I used 58% couverture chocolate. I recommend the 50 - 60% range.
• Oil
  • It helps to thin out the glaze so that it spreads easier. Also, slicing the cake gets easier since the glaze is not too crunchy, thanks to the oil.

Chocolate to draw on top (Optional)

• Dark chocolate (melted)
  • Or use the extra chocolate glaze dropped on a tray after using it.

📌 How To Make Opera Cake

The 7 Processes:

1. Make Biscuit Joconde sponge cake.
2. Make coffee syrup.
3. Spread chocolate on the bottom layer of the sponge.
4. Make Mocha Buttercream.
5. Make chocolate ganache.
6. Assemble the cake and chill it in the fridge.
7. Spread chocolate glaze and slice it.

📝 More Tips With Images

Now, let me share detailed tips on each step, which are all crucial for making the opera cake!

1. Biscuit Joconde

You can also use one full-size sheet pan or 4 quarter sheet pans.

👩🏻‍🍳 I like to make the sponge very thin for opera cake. The thin layers create a more delicate, amazing texture - Don’t worry, even if it might look super thin!

Bake at 410 F | 210 C for 6 - 7 minutes until the surface looks golden brown.

💬 When you use 2 racks for 2 trays in an oven, switch the position toward the end to bake evenly. Or use one rack if they fit in and rotate them toward the end if necessary.

Cut them in half.

In total, you'll get 4 sponge layers.

2. Chocolate coating for the sponge:

Mix melted chocolate and oil and spread thinly on one of the sponge layers.

And chill it in a fridge until it's set. This layer is going to be the very bottom of the cake.

💬 I recommend cutting a cake board to the cake size and place on the bottom. This helps to move the cake easily, especially when you spread a glaze on a cooling rack.

👩🏻‍🍳 We soak the cake with A LOT of coffee syrup - The chocolate coating creates a barrier on the bottom and helps to transfer the cake easier when you slice it.

3. Coffee Syrup

Next, heat water and sugar in a pan to make coffee syrup.

Once it starts simmering, stop the heat and add ground coffee:

Roughly mix and place a lid on top to let it steam for 10 – 15 minutes.

(Do not boil the water for a long time since the amount of syrup will be much less.)

Next, strain and discard the ground coffee.

To finish this syrup, add a very generous amount of cognac!

👩🏻‍🍳 Yes, it is a VERY generous amount of cognac! But surprisingly, it works so well. I rarely add this much alcohol to my desserts, but it plays a sub-main role in an opera cake.

4. Mocha Buttercream

First, heat the milk in a small pod.

⚠️ Do not boil the milk; just a little simmering is fine. (Boiling milk can over float quickly!)

Once it starts simmering, stop the heat and add ground coffee.

Place a lid and let it steam for 10 - 15 minutes, just like we did with the coffee syrup.

Meanwhile, mix egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until it looks pale:

Strain, add the coffee liquid, and pour it back into a pan:

Continue heating it at low heat until it starts getting thickened a bit:

⚠️ Heat VERY gently, especially toward the end, to prevent yolks from getting cooked. (We don't want scrambled eggs in the sauce!)

Once it's done, strain it in a bowl:

This is the same method as Anglaise sauce. The buttercream is made by mixing the coffee Anglaise sauce and butter.

⚠️ The sauce is hot at this point. Cool it to room temperature before adding butter to prevent it from melting. * Do not chill the sauce so the butter does not get too firm or separate.

💬 It is important to use soft butter to make the buttercream smooth and fluffy.

Whip butter until it gets very fluffy. Add about ⅓ of the coffee sauce and whip:

👩🏻‍🍳 Whipping it a lot here makes a big difference! The whipped buttercream feels lighter in your mouth because of the air inside.

Add the rest of the sauce and continue whipping it until it looks fluffy:

💬 This buttercream contains a good amount of liquids. I intentionally chose it so that the buttercream feels softer when it's cold.

5. Ganache

First, melt the chocolate. Heat the heavy cream until it feels slightly warm so they blend easier.

Next, add about ¼ of heavy cream and mix.

Once it looks even, repeat the process until you add all the heavy cream.

I divided it into 4 times this time.

💬 Depending on the temperatures of chocolate and heavy cream, the ganache might be too soft to spread on a sponge right after it's made. In that case, wait some time; it’ll soon get firmer as it cools down.

6. Assembling the opera cake

First, brush ¼ of the coffee syrup on the first sponge layer:

You might feel shocked to see the amount of coffee syrup, but it works so well for this cake! Don’t be afraid of using it all. 

💡 When you see syrup floating on the sponge's surface, make shallow cuts all over the sponge evenly. The syrup goes in deeper immediately, and you can apply more syrup.

Spread half of the ganache. The consistency should not be too soft or too firm:

💬 If it gets too firm to spread, heat it a bit to make it softer.

Place the 2nd layer of sponge on top and brush the syrup:

👩🏻‍🍳 The baked side should be facing down. That is because it's protected with a layer of baked skin and doesn’t soak syrup well. The lighter side can soak up a lot more!

Spread half of the buttercream:

Now, repeat the same thing one more time to finish assembling the cake:

1. Apply the coffee syrup to the 3rd sponge layer.
2. Spread the rest of the ganache.
3. Apply the rest of the coffee syrup to the 4th sponge layer
4. Spread the rest of the buttercream.

This cake is made with:

• 4 layers of sponge soaked in coffee syrup
• 2 layers of ganache
• 2 layers of mocha buttercream

💬 It takes a reasonable amount of time to assemble all of them, but your efforts won't be wasted! By making all the layers thin, you can create a delicate texture that makes this cake amazing.

🌛 Let it rest overnight if you have time so the coffee syrup spreads evenly throughout the sponge.

7. Chocolate Glaze

Melt the chocolate and add oil.

⚠️ Mix gently to prevent it from containing a lot of air bubbles.

💬 The combinations of the temperatures are important. For example, when the cake is freezing cold, you need a warmer chocolate glaze. 

💬 Once the chocolate reaches the temperature, don’t hesitate to use it immediately so it doesn't cool down.

This is a very nervous point. Cry-max of the show! (I feel nervous every time I do it.)

Moving quickly is the key. 🕺🏻

Immediately after pouring the chocolate glaze, spread it thinly with a spatula. 

Move it back and forth a few times. Check out the video tutorial to see the movement.

Do it quickly before the chocolate starts getting hard.

You can also use my chocolate mirror glaze recipe for a shinier, darker glaze. It's more tolerant to the temperature gap.

📌 How To Slice An Opera Cake

1. Dip a knife in the hot water. (or heat a knife with a torch)
2. Wipe a knife with a towel or paper.
3. Hold a knife straight and slide it down.
4. Pull off a knife when it goes all the way down.
5. Wipe a knife and repeat.

You can also slice it into rectangles, squares... any shapes and sizes you like!

💡 I recommend leaving it for about 10 minutes or more at room temperature before eating it. It'll feel softer and melt slowly in the mouth. 

Now, enjoy!!! Bon-Appetit.

Chocolate, coffee, almond, butter, and cognac taste amazing together.

The elegance is concentrated in one bite ☕️

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!

Watch this video to learn how to make the opera cake more in detail, getting a deeper understanding of each process!

Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it😉

📌 Lastly... ☕️

Although it takes time to make this cake, it ultimately pays off.

And the feeling of accomplishment!!! - It is a great cake to practice many techniques, such as how to use a spatula, control the temperatures of chocolate, etc.

Don’t worry about getting messy or making mistakes. Practice some time, and you get better each time! 100%.

📌 Printable Recipe

💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.

📌 Pin It!

Pin it if you love this recipe, and find so many other recipes on my Pinterest page!

You may also like:

Chocolate Recipes

Classics Recipes

Fruit Tart

Lemon Madeleine

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