This months Daring Bakers challenge was an opera cake. The opera cake sounded pretty challenging having no less that five different components. The components included a cake, a syrup, a buttercream, a ganache and a glaze. The thing that I liked most about the challenge was that we were allowed to choose the flavours in the cake as long as the colours remained light. I decided to go with one of my current favorite dessert flavour combinations, green tea and white chocolate.
Note: I halved all the recipes for all components as I did not want such a large cake.
Green Tea Cake
The first component of the opera cake was of course the cake. The cake sounded pretty interesting because it used ground almonds. I wanted the cake to have a green tea flavour and have a green colour so I added some matcha. The cake came together pretty easily and it had a really nice shade of green.
Green Tea Syrup
The cake in the opera cake needed to be moistened with a syrup. The syrup was just a simple syrup with some added flavour. I remembered that I had seen some green tea liqueur and I though that it would go well in the syrup. The green tea liqueur was a nice dark green and it tasted like green tea and had hints of spices and berries. It added a nice aroma to the syrup and the opera cake.
Green Tea Buttercream
There was a bit of confusion with the recipe for the buttercream and in the end I was not sure what recipe to use so I used the recipe from the Perfect Party Cake challenge. I decided that I wanted the buttercream to be green as well so I added some matcha to it. The first time that I made buttercream it did not work out too well. The second time I got a nice finished product but it took about 20 minutes of beating the cream by hand. This time everything came together easily with less than 5 minutes of beating by hand in the final step. Given the amount of beating in the other components I was a bit relieved. The buttercream ended up with a nice light green colour and tasted great. Must keep fingers out of butter cream.
White Chocolate Ganache
The ganache was the first of the white chocolate components of the opera cake. I had made chocolate ganache before but I have never tried folding in whipped cream in addition to melting the chocolate into cream. The whipped cream left the chocolate light and fluffy. Unfortunately it also left the ganache a bit runny and a lot of the ganache ran out from the middle layer of the cake. Putting it in the fridge for a while fixed that problem though.
White Chocolate Glaze
The opera cake was topped with a simple white chocolate glaze that came together easily.
Assembling the Opera Cake
Assembling the cake was the funnest part of the challenge. After the cake was assembled I chilled it in the fridge and then trimmed the sides to get nice and straight edges.
Overall the opera cake was not too difficult to make and it turned out really good! It tasted great and it disappeared quite quickly! The slight bitterness of the green tea tempered the sweetness of the white chocolate nicely. The cake was nice a moist and light and creamy at the same time. I really enjoyed the opera cake challenge.
Green Tea and White Chocolate Opera Cake
ingredients
- green tea cake (see below)
- green tea syrup (see below)
- green tea buttercream (see below)
- white chocolate glaze (see below)
directions
- Work on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Cut the cake into 4 6×7 inch pieces.
- Place 1 sheet of the cake onto the baking sheet and moisten with syrup.
- Spread 1/2 of the buttercream over the cake.
- Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the buttercream and moisten with syrup.
- Spread the white chocolate ganache over the cake.
- Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the ganache and moisten with syrup.
- Spread the remaining buttercream over the cake.
- Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the buttercream and moisten with syrup.
- Pour the glaze over the cake and smooth it out.
- Refrigerate until it sets, about 30 minutes.
- Trim the sides to get a smooth finish.
Green Tea Cake
ingredients
- 3 large egg whites (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 1 cup icing sugar (sifted)
- 1 tablespoon matcha
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
directions
- Line a 12 1/2 inch by 15 1/2 inch jelly roll pan with parchment and grease it with butter.
- Beat the egg whites in a bowl until they form soft peaks.
- Add the sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy.
- Beat the almonds, icing sugar, matcha and eggs in another bowl until light and voluminous.
- Add the flour and beat until the flour is just combined.
- Fold the meringue into the almond mixture.
- Fold in the butter.
- Pour the batter into the pan.
- Bake in a preheated 425F/220C oven until lightly browned and just springy to the touch, about 5-9 minutes.
- Run a knife along the edges to loosen the cake form the pan.
- Cover the cake with parchment paper, flip and unmold the cake.
- Peel of the parchments paper flip and cover the cake while it cools.
Green Tea Syrup
ingredients
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon green tea liqueur
directions
- Bring every thing to boil in a small sauce pan stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
Green Tea Buttercream
ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon matcha
- 2 large egg whites
- 3/4 cups unsalted butter (at room temperature)
directions
- Mix the sugar and matcha in a small bowl.
- Whisk the sugar and matcha into the egg whites in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until the mixture is hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. (The sugar should be dissolved and the mixture should look like shiny marshmallow cream.)
- Remove the bowl from the heat and beat until the cream is cool, about 5 minutes.
- Beat in the butter one stick at a time.
- Beat the mixture until it thickens and becomes smooth, about 5-20 minutes.
White Chocolate Ganache
ingredients
- 7 ounces white chocolate (chopped)
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
directions
- Melt the chocolate into the heavy cream in a double boiler.
- Set the ganache aside and let cool completely.
- Whip the heavy cream in a large bowl.
- Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate ganache.
- Refrigerate until used.
White Chocolate Glaze
ingredients
- 3 ounces white chocolate (chopped)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
directions
- Melt the chocolate into the heavy cream in a double boiler.
- Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the opera cake.
Green Tea Macarons
Green Tea White Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies with Chocolate Ganache
Green Tea and White Chocolate Ice Cream
White Chocolate Lava Cakes
Matcha Green Tea White Chocolate Blondies
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Guinness Chocolate Pudding
Hollandaise Sauce
Avgolemono Sauce
Azuki (Red Bean) Ice Cream
Black Sesame Ice Cream
wow! great job! I made matcha opera cake too! yours looks amazing!
Great combination of the green tea and the white chocolate! Very nice job!
Your cake wants me to start singing. I love the inspired flavours with the matcha and white chocolate:D
Bea-U-Ti-Full cake! Green is my favorite color and that is one great-looking cake!
Great job! Such straight beautiful lines. The green tea flavor sounds good too. I would not have known how to do that before reading your post!
This looks professional! Wow. I am so impressed. Are you sure you don’t own your own bakery?
You did a wonderful job, Kevin! WOW!
Nice! Green tea + white chocolate are great together! I need to start making an opera cake now!
Oh that is a very nice combination. I wasn’t as creative this month, but after so much baking and cooking I wasn’t feeling too daring. Hehehe. Great pics!
Wow. That is so impressive. The green tea is a great idea. I have yet to do a daring bakers’ challenge, but I’m having fun seeing every else make this cake – I love your take on it!
Simply gorgeous!
Very pretty and what a tasty combination of flavors! YUM.
Pam
Kevin, you NAILED this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge – that opera cake is STUNNING!
Kevin, that is a stunning cake! Great flavors too. Your slices are perfect! I had to make mine round because I am such a terrible slicer. Well done!
Great job Kevin, I like your use of the matcha.
Your cake turned out beautifully!
Fantastic Kevin! I totally love it!
You made a wonderful job of this cake Kevin! I have seen it on a few diferent blogs and they all look good, but the green, really makes your cake stand out from all of the others 🙂
Kevin- What a fantastic job, it looks incredible. Really, well done. How did you ever get your lines so straight? I am impressed.
Kevin, I always look forward to seeing the Daring Bakers delicious creations. I’d have to say that yours definitely sticks out with the beautiful colors and flavor combination. Great job! The recipe looks daunting 🙂
Dude….are you a professional chef? If not, why not? Are you single? If so, why? If you are not getting paid for what you do – I wanna be your agent.
Amazing stuff! Keep it up.
Wow, I must try this green tea and white chocolate combo!!! Sounds divine!!!
I love the clean classic look of your cake, so very elegant! I would almost hate to tear into it with a fork, but alas what then would be the point? Very nice work on l’Opera!!!!
Kevin, it’s gorgeous! What a beautiful color!
Wow great job love the matcha flavoring! Your layers can out beautiful!
Your cake slicing abilities are top notch! I too had to make mine round because I don’t have the steadiest of slicing hands!
A great job there Kevin as always! That cake looks really good and the photos are excellent too!!
Kevin, you need to get yourself a mixer! I can’t believe you beat the buttercream by hand – I’m exhausted just thinking about it! Great job – the green looks lovely.
Wow! This looks fantabulous! This cake would definitely be a daring challenge for me.
That cake looks gorgeous! It’s fun seeing what flavour combinations everyone has come up with. At least all that beating of the butter makes up for all the calories? LOL
Good job Kevin! The layers are very straight and it is, in fact, green(ish).
What a beautiful cake you made! I am impressed! Green tea sounds like a great idea!
You always amazing me Kevin , you make all well!! and beauty, is beauty and Im sure tasty!! xGloria
Your creativity is always wonderful! I love green tea ice cream, and would probably love this cake.
Wow Kevin! You totally amaze me. I say why don’t you move to Northern NY and let’s run a place together! LOL
I almost went the green tea route myself, but as time got tight I hesitated to make too bright a mark on the original recipe. Looking at yours I wish I had… the vibrant color combination can only be indicative of how great it must taste!
All these cakes are just awesome! Your’s is totally original Kevin, I love it!
I must admit, green tea and white chocolate together has never occurred to me. I am always amazed at your creativity. Lovely!
Such beautiful colors. Your Opéra cake looks incredible Kevin, just like a pro! 🙂
I love the matcha and white chocolate combination – very well suited! Great job as always! 🙂
Green tea… I considered that. A good combination. Your cake looks great!
this is different from the ‘real’ opera cake which is made from egg whites and almond powder and spread with the combination of ganache and coffee buttercream? you have neat layers there, Kevin. i’m really really impressed!
Open up a bakery Kevin! What a perfect slice! Beautiful!!
Your cake is a gorgeous work of art! What a beautiful combination of flavors as well.
Your photography is spectacular as well. I have been enjoying your site 🙂
Green tea? Fabulous! Looks so great. You kicked booty on this challenge.
great job, kevin! i have never had green tea with white chocolate before, though it does sound wonderful! your layers look so perfect!
oh Kevin…this looks amazing…yummmmmmmmmmm
a very trendy combination! You should have your own cookbook published, seriously!
Looks great Kevin! I didn’t know we were allowed to change the cake flavoring. I guess I should read more thoroughly next time;-)
i <3 matcha.. yum yum.. this looks great. really nice pictures and really even job with the layers 🙂
i do love the combination of green tea and white chocolate too. this is beautiful kevin! great job.
Ohhh…I like this. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on some matcha.
This looks so yummy! I have never heard of a green tea cake but this looks great!
matcha and white chocolate are perfect harmony!! i love it!
Green tea and white chocolate?
Oh my my…
Wow! That looks perfectly perfect! What a great job! And green tea goes so well with white chocolate, it must tast amazing!
I owe you one. I have been screwing around with green tea ice cream and you gave me a couple ideas I never thought of. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Ohh I love green tea & white chocolate together! And I love the pale green buttercream and the gorgeous layers; this is an opera cake to die for…
you’ve done good work here, mister. i think green tea and white chocolate are a match made in heaven as far as both taste and appearance go. nicely done!
Your cake turned out beautifully! Good job, Daring Baker.
Kevin your cake looks fabulous 🙂
Fantastic Kevin! Great job.
I just love the green tea element Kevin and boy does it look amazing!! Well done 🙂
Rosie x
Very impressive.
Very very neat layers indeed. It looks divine!
Somehow I knew that if anyone would do green tea, it would be you, lol. It looks awesome!
The cake looks spectacular. Love the use of matcha here. Nice one Kevin!
I love it when you bake Kevin- you always come up with the most interesting things! The green cake is so pretty! Such perfect slices!
I’ve always been intrigued by green tea in cake… I’m almost ashamed to admit I’ve never tried it. Next time, next time… your cake is beautiful, your layers are so even and your icing looks impeccable.
You never cease to amaze me – your cake is gorgeous – perfectly cut (like I expected different). The green gives it a really interesting look – really really big pat on your back.
Green tea is so hot right now, isn’t it? Lovely choice to pair it with white chocolate ganache.
Great idea! Looks great!
Oh my goodness! Look how perfectly even and beautiful your layers are! You achieved opera cake perfection – especially with your divine flavors, too!
This is such a great flavor choice for the opera cake, Kevin. I have never had green tea cake but I know I would love it, especially with white chocolate. I love green tea ice cream! 🙂
Wow, perfect! Mine looks “special” compared to yours. You are quite the baker! Love the idea of the green tea and the color of the joconde is fabulous.
Wow…so perfect! I would have loved to have a bite of that cake.
that looks really fantastic! such clean lines–i love it!
wow it looks wonderful!
I love the shade of green and the contrast with the fillings. Beautiful!
Somehow I just know the matcha and white chocolate were made for each other in this cake.
Excellent Kevin.
What a perfect cake! Lovely… 🙂
Beautiful!
perfect!
brilliantly executed, as all your other baked goodies:)the layers look fab, and green tea and white choc are indeeed a nice pairing!
btw, do try to participate in my Monthly Mingle event if you get a chance!:)
This turned out so beautifully! Although I’m imagining what my wrist would feel like had I whipped buttercream for 20 minutes! The spices in your green tea syrup sound delicious…
That looks perfect! Great job!
[email protected]Whisk: a food blog
I love the amount of matcha in the jaconde. My version was way too sweet for me and I’d love to have been able to taste yours.
Oh, my! Your cake is amazing, =O I’m a little ashamed for mine, heheh
Green tea and white chocolate are a great combination!
Vitor Hugo
http://english.pratofundo.com/ (English)
http://pratofundo.com/ (Portuguese)
What a beautiful cake!
A perfect plate for your cake. Looks great.
Ooo, nice sharp edges, a very very pretty opera cake!
Green tea and white chocolate? I’ve got to try that combination. Sounds (and looks) delicious.
WOW!!! You did a great job! Now, that’s a cake! Yum!
Kevin, This is one of the most beautiful combination, I have come across.Great Job.
I love that last photo of the slice of cake. It looks so perfect! I really wish I could try your cake.
This looks just wonderful. Very nice.
darn, we are totally on the same page. i did green tea opera cakes too.
I have to say, of all the opera cakes I have read about on the blogosphere, this one stands out by a mile. The idea of using green tea as a flavouring here is novel and a winner and I suspect tempered the sweetness of the whole cake somewhat too.
Great blog too by the way!
This looks great! I have see quite a few recipes with green tea but never tried baking anything with tea. I definitely like the idea of it with chocolate!
Great recipe. I just used the cake for my attempt;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/popabawa/3689513583/
hey this cake look amazing I have bought all the ingredients but could not find the Green tea liqueur anywhere, do you have any idea's of what i could use instead
tHANKS
Anonymous: You have a number of options including simply skipping it entirely or replacing it with another liqueur such as a white chocolate or a vanilla or you could mix a bit of matcha into the syrup.
I've been wanting to make this cake for a while. I've learn how to properly beat egg whites, but should I buy ground almonds or grind them myself by blanching, toasting and grinding them? Maybe they will be too coarse and will stop the cake from rising.
Anonymous: If you have a good food processor or blender you should be able to grind your own, otherwise store bought can also be handy.
this recipe looks incredible! if you don't mind, im going to be using it to make for a food competition at my school, but i have a question. for the almonds, is that a cup of the almonds after they are ground? or do i take a cup of blanched almonds, and then grind that and put whatever measure is left over into the mix?
thanks so much, and i can't wait to make this delicious cake! =]
Anonymous: That is one cup of almonds after they are ground. Sorry for he confusion.
I was just wondering what I could use as a substitute if I can't find Green Tea Liquer. (I live on an island in SPain, no hope of finding that here!)
Jane Veronis said: You have a number of options including simply skipping it entirely or replacing it with another liqueur such as a white chocolate or a vanilla or you could mix a bit of matcha into the syrup.
Hi, thank you for this recipe :). I made matcha cake from your recipe but with passion fruit mousse. Green Tea cake is just stunning! http://przepisy-aleksandry.blogspot.com/2011/07/ciasto-chamei-z-zielona-herbata-i-musem.html this is link to my green tea cake photos :).
Thank you Kevin for nice comment, I am very glad you like my cake :). I really like your website and I have plan to use more of your recipes.
http://alexandras-recipes.blogspot.com/ (English version)
http://alexandras-recipes.blogspot.com/ (Polish version)