Additional Ingredients

To assemble:

50 ml	Espresso
1 tsp	Golden Caster Sugar (Billington's)
2 tbsp	dark rum

Further Additional Ingredients

To decorate:

How to make Gateaux Opera

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1. To make the Almond Sponge: Heat the oven to 220°C and line two trays with baking parchment.
2. Whisk egg whites and caster sugar until stiff peaks formed.
3. Mix almonds and icing sugar, add the eggs and whisk until pale and doubled in volume.
4. Sift the flour into this mixture and fold to incorporate. Add whisked egg whites and fold in. Finally, add the melted butter.
5. Divide mixture between two baking trays and spread out evenly with a palette knife. Bake for 7-10 minutes, but watch carefully as it cooks quickly.
6. To make the Coffee Buttercream: Add caster sugar to a small pan, add 30g water and stir to dissolve. Place over a heat until produces a thick syrup, almost a caramel. It will reach 120°C on a sugar thermometer. Add the vanilla to the syrup, once the mixture is thickening.
7. Place egg and yolk into a bowl and whisk.
8. Once syrup reached 120°C, slowly pour onto egg mixture, keeping the beaters running as you do this. You will have a fluffy mixture. Leave to cool before beating in the soft butter, beat until you have a smooth mixture. Add espresso and mix again. Place somewhere cool while you prepare the next step.
9. To make the Ganache: Heat cream and milk, once almost boiling, pass through sieve over the chocolate, stir mixture so chocolate melts. Add the butter and mix until incorporated and the mixture is smooth and starting to thicken.
10. To assemble: Using the base of an 8” cake tin, cut three sponge discs from your sponges – one of the discs will be made up of two halves of what is left from each sponge sheet – you’ll get 1 and a half 8” disc from each sponge . Place first disc in 8” mould.
11. Mix coffee, rum and sugar together. Brush this sponge base with coffee and rum mix then spoon over a layer of chocolate ganache. Add second sponge – use the two halves at this point – brush again with rum mix. Add a layer of buttercream on top of second sponge.
12. Add final layer sponge on top of buttercream, then brush with rum mix. Finally top with remaining ganache. Place in fridge to chill for about 30 mins.
13. To decorate: Melt white chocolate over bain marie, at the same time separately melt the dark chocolate.
14. Add clarified butter to dark chocolate and stir to incorporate.
15. Remove gateaux from fridge and pour over dark chocolate mixture. Place aside and leave to set on top. Once top set, remove mould from gateaux (a blow torch will help to do this).
16. Place melted white chocolate in paper cornet made from silicone paper.
17. Place a spoonful of melted white chocolate in cornet and then snip the end so you can pipe on top of the cake. Finish by piping the word ‘opera’ onto the top of your gateaux.

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