28 May 2008

The Assembly of Decadence...er...I mean...an Opera Cake

The Daring Baker challenge this month was Opera Cake. (Recipe morphed from the recipes in Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets and Tish Boyle and Timothy Moriarty's Chocolate Passion.) It is a decadent, super rich dessert traditionally flavored with chocolate and coffee. As per their prerogative, the hosts, Fran of Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie, Shea of Whiskful, Lisa of La Mia Cucina, and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, declared that dark flavors/colors were outlawed.

Sooooo...I chose almond and white chocolate! Did I say decadent? Let me just describe the layers:
1. joconde (cake made from almond meal)
2. almond-flavored syrup
3. white chocolate-flavored buttercream
4. joconde
5. almond syrup
6. white chocolate buttercream
7. joconde
8. almond syrup
9. white chocolate mousse
10. white chocolate/almond glaze

Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I figured I would just make a little video for you. 37,000 words worth of video! (Credit for the pictures is split between me and my eldest daughter. And yes, that is a couch in the background. The assembly was done in the living room. What can you do when it has the best natural light in the house?)

26 comments:

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Thoroughly enjoyed the video and your lovely cake. I can see you live white chocolate.:)

Anonymous said...

this is lovely. you are so talented and I can say that the cake was delectable!! j'taime mon ami!

Fran Z said...

Loved it! Pretty dot job! ;D

Tricia said...

aparna - thank you. i normally don't pick white chocolate but i threw myself into this one and i'm so glad i did!

fran z - thanks. the truth is that i had just the tiniest bit of buttercream left and didn't want a boring cake so...

anonymous - mystery person, you are so kind. j'taime yourself baby.

Renee said...

I loved your video!! Very clever and the music was perfect for the Opera Cake. Your decorations were simple, yet very elegant! Bravo!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Wow! I loved the video so much! What a great idea! Cake looks pretty good too!

glamah16 said...

Great viseo. I love how this cake cleans up so good. Just patience is needed with all the chilling. Good Job!

Thistlemoon said...

It looks fabulous I love the video!

Unknown said...

Fantastic idea to do the video! I did an assembly tutorial but mine's all words and pics. LOVE the video idea :)

Anonymous said...

Great Idea, with the video thing... cake looks lovely like a sea of pearls ;)

Anonymous said...

What a great idea with the video,
I loved it :) Beautiful cake!

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful & I love the video!

Tricia said...

renee - thanks. i'm just lucky that simple tends towards elegance. (i don't have too many decorating skills.)

clumbsy cookie, jenndz, zita, em - thank you. the video was mostly because i didn't want to write a long post. it ended up taking waaaay longer to make the video, though. nice to take a break from writing a post.

glamah - the long prep time is mostly waiting. its just that the 30 minute ones don't give you time to do anything else (as long as you're putting it together on the same day.) and hallelujah it cleans up well! you saw what mine looked like pre-cleaning.

Tricia said...

briannalee & shellyfish - thanks so much. (love the name "shellyfish")

Lynne Daley said...

Great video and your cake looks luscious.

Francijn said...

How very original to post a video :-)

Jade Is Green! said...

I really like the simplicity of your cake (though obviously this cake is far from simple to make). The different shades of white/cream and the spray of dots on top is very visually appealing. Loved the video too!

maybelles mom said...

loved the video. so good.

Faery said...

The cake looks delicious and I enjoyed the video so much, gret job

Rachel said...

Lovely video...

lovelier cake..lovelier spots on the top layer..

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a wonderful job on your cake. Love the video too.

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

Anonymous said...

Great cake, very nice! :)

Lunch Buckets said...

Nicely done! Wish I could see the video on this computer though!

AranciOnissimA said...

it seems very good!
Congratulation for your opera!
AranciOnissimA

Anonymous said...

great job!

Tricia said...

thanks for your comments guys!