Opera Cake For A Special Day
First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who has greeted me earlier. Yes, I am a Gemini and so is Gertrude, Mary and my daughter. I still remember in year 1994, I was warded on my birthday.....to give birth of my daughter. At that moment, how I wish my girl will has the same birthday. But after checking, the doctor said I'm not ready yet. So, I was sent home the next day. Finally, she arrives a week later. :o) In between that week, I had loads of food. It was dumpling festival then. I had quite a lot of glutinous rice dumpling and also durians. But I wonder why my daughter doesn't even want to touch it... I mean durians! But she loves rice dumplings though. Probably, I had too much already during my pregnancy. haha....(Recipe Adapted to Chef Jean Francois Arnaud)
Ingredients for Almond Sponge :
200gm ground almond
100gm icing sugar
60gm all purpose flour
6 egg whites
120gm castor sugar
6 eggs
40gm butter, melted
Method :
(1) combine flour, ground almond and icing sugar in a bowl & mix well.
(2) beat egg white till foamy then add in castor sugar and continue beating for another 2 more minutes.
(3) now, add in whole egg one by one and beat till well mixed.
(4) finally, fold in dry ingredients and mix to combine.
(5) then stir in butter and mix well.
(6) divide batter into 3 equal portions and pour it to each 9x13" tray lined with greasproof paper.
(7) bake at preheated oven 220'C for about 8-12 minutes.
(8) keep refrigerated after cool.
Ingredients for Coffee Cream :
375ml milk
1 tbsp coffee powder
9 egg yolks
250gm sugar
500gm butter, softened
Method :
(1) combine milk & coffee powder and bring to boil.
(2) in another bowl, beat egg yolk and sugar till creamy.
(3) stir milk mixture into beaten egg yolk and mix well.
(4) put mixture over medium fire and cook untill thickened.
(5) leave to cool at room temperature.
(6) then beat in melted butter and leave aside. Do not refrigerate it.
Ingredients for Dark Chocolate Glazing :
75ml water
16gm gelatine
180ml heavy cream
250gm sugar
210ml water
90gm cocoa powder
Method :
(1) soak gelatine into water.
(2) combine cream, water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to boil.
(3) next add in cocoa powder and stir well.
(4) off the heat once it's ready and leave to cool at room temperature before refrigerated for 15mins. Do not over chill the mixture, otherwise it will became harden.
Ingredients for coffee syrup :4 tspn instant coffee powder
150gm sugar
200ml hot water
(combine all ingredients and stir till sugar dissolved then set aside to cool. Or you may replace this with local kopi-O)
* local kopi-O~~'Gao' tastes much stronger and aromatic.
TO ASSEMBLE :
(1) bring out the sponge and remove the greaseproof paper.
(2) sandwich the sponge with coffee cream and pour the coffee syrup over each layers of sponge about 50% wet or 100% if you prefer softer texture.
(3) keep the sponge chilled for an hour.
(4) then spread on the dark chocolate glazing and keep chilled for another hour or untill set.
(5) place cake to a prepared board and trim the edges till neat.
(6) decorate the top as desired and serve.
Why am I chosen the Opera Cake for my special day? Well...Firstly, this has been at the top of my list for a very long time. Secondly, I find that this is quite a challenging task and would love to give it a try. Thirdly, I wanted something special on my big day this year. Frankly, I don't mind if I'm wearing a Prada or Channel but I won't want to miss even a bit of these glamorous desserts.*wink* How do you like this Mrs.P~~~~~~!!!!! :o)*
Again, thank you so much for all your wishes. I am really appreciate it.
(cake, chocolate)
