Phantom of the Opera Cake

Continuing my Simeon week of recipes.  My wife, Amy and I always concerned our self with his education.  So when he was very young we spent lots of times figuring out where to send him for daycare and then later to school.  The school we decided on is a catholic school which we felt was important to both of us.  We started our relationship with my self becoming catholic before we got married and Amy finds enjoyment in going to church on Sundays.  This emphasis in religion in our lives helped us decide to send him to a catholic daycare and school.  Last month I made a pie for his teacher and made three different kinds of cookies for his Christmas party. So last Monday my sons 4K teacher who also is his principal asked me to make a cake for a local event the school puts on called All for Love.  I decided to make a special cake that is very a decedent cake and is full of coffee flavor.  This recipe is called an Opera Cake which was created in Paris around the time the the national opera was open.  I added my photo of the Paris opera house from my wife and my trip to Paris.  

Opera Cake is layers of almond sponge cake soaked in with coffee and brandy separated by a layer of espresso buttercream and a bitter sweet chocolate glaze.  The recipe for my Opera Cake Came from epicurious.com.  The skill you need to understand the best is folding so as not to lose the air that has been whipped into the eggs and the egg whites.

For almond sponge cake 

 3 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising), sifted after measuring, plus additional for dusting pan 

2 whole large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes

1 cup almond flour (3 1/2 oz) or 2/3 cup blanched whole almonds (see cooks' note, below)
1/2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted after measuring
2 large egg whites at room temperature for 30 minutes
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, foam discarded, and butter cooled
For coffee syrup
1/2 cup espresso coffee
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup Cognac or other brandy
For coffee buttercream
1/2 of the coffee syrup
2 large egg yolks
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and softened
For chocolate glaze
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened; preferably 70 to 71% cacao), coarsely chopped

I mix up the whole eggs till they are almost triple in amount, then this is what it looks like when you add the almond flour and cake flour and icing sugar (or confectioners sugar) is combined.  I found that this is very thick and hard to fold the whites in so add the butter to this before you fold in the whites. 

Whip egg whites and cream of tarter till it becomes fluffy then add the sugar slowly to make a nice stiff peaks. Fold this into the almond flour mix in three separate additions.

I used parchment paper in the pan to save on clean up of my pans.  When you pour this into your prepared pan, don't worry you want to spread out the cake into a very thin cake it will raise a little but not much.  Bake at 425 for about 7minutes 30 minutes to 10 minutes. 

It will look pale but the edges will show some color.  While this cools you can make the butter cream which is easy I put the egg yolks in my mixer and mix till pale yellow.  At the same time I make the coffee syrup just combine the ingredients and bring to a boil.  Take and pour half of the syrup in the egg yolks, and let it mix to cool slightly.  At this point I add the butter I cube up and let it mix till incorporated fully then add a few more cubes of butter.

This is what you glaze should look like when almost fully incorporated.  your looking for smooth and shinny. 

So this is how you assemble the final cake. You take a piece of cake at the bottom then brush with the coffee syrup.  I like to let the syrup soak in and then do it again.  I then put a layer of buttercream down(in this one I piped in the cream it was easier and made assembly faster, larger cakes I recommend using a spatula to even out the layer.  Then another piece of cake and more coffee syrup.  Then pour the glaze over the cake.  Repeat the sequence till you get the desired number of layers you want. This is a version of the final cake I made for a small packer NFC championship game that I made using cake pop holders I have.