May's Daring Bakers Challenge - Opera Cake

I am sooooooo sorry for posting this late. I made the cake about two weeks ago!

This month challenge was OPERA CAKE. It is a multi layer almond cake that is usually flavored with the flavors chocolate and coffee in the form of buttercream, mousse and syrup. Our hosts Lis, Ivonne, Fran & Shea changed the flavors to something more light in honor of the spring season. We were allowed to use any flavors we wanted as long as they stayed within that light flavor, light color category. That means NO dark chocolate or coffee. I chose to make two cakes. One flavor combination was Honey Apricot and the other flavor combination was Blueberry Lemon. I will give you the recipe for the Honey Apricot Opera Cake. I will note where to change flavors to make the Blueberry Lemon Opera Cake. I will not include the recipe of the mousse I made. I will explain in the verdict section.

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Honey Apricot Opera Cake

Yields about 20 servings

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For the Joconde

(Note: The joconde can be made up to 1 day in advance and kept wrapped at room temperate)

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6 large egg whites, at room temperature

2 tbsp. (30 grams) granulated sugar

2 cups (225 grams) ground blanched almonds (Note: If you do not want to use almond meal, you can use another nut meal like hazelnut. You can buy almond meal in bulk food stores or health food stores, or you can make it at home by grinding almonds in the food processor with a tablespoon or two of the flour that you would use in the cake. The reason you need the flour is to prevent the almonds from turning oily or pasty in the processor. You will need about 2 cups of blanched almonds to create enough almond meal for this cake.)

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

6 large eggs

½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. (1½ ounces; 45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1.Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.

2. Preheat the oven to 425◦F. (220◦C).

3. Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.

5. If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.

6. Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to over mix here!!!).

7. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.

8. Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.

9. Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.

10. Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.

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For the syrup

(Note: The syrup can be made up to 1 week in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator.)

½ cup (125 grams) water

⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar

1 to 2 tbsp. apricot jam (1 to 2 tbsp. blueberry juice)
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1. Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

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For the Honey buttercream

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(Note: The buttercream can be made up to 1 month in advance and packed in an airtight container. If made way in advance, you can freeze the buttercream. Alternatively you can refrigerate it for up to 4 days after making it. To use the buttercream simply bring it to room temperature and then beat it briefly to restore its consistency.)

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1 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

¼ cup (60 grams) water

seeds of one vanilla bean or 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1¾ sticks (7 ounces; 200 grams)

unsalted butter, at room temperature

1-2 tbsp honey (1 to 2 tbsp of lemon juice)

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1. Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.

2. Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225◦F (107◦C) [*Note: Original recipe indicates a temperature of 255◦F (124◦C), however, when testing the recipe I found that this was too high so we heated to 225◦F and it worked fine] on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.

3. While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.

4.When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don’t worry about this and don’t try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden!

5. Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).

6. While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass.

7. With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.

8. At this point add in your honey and beat for an additional minute or so.

9. Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it’s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes).

Assembling the Opéra Cake

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(Note: The finished cake should be served slightly chilled. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 day)

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Line your serving platter with parchment or wax paper.

Working with one sheet of cake at a time, cut and trim each sheet so that you have two pieces (from each cake so you’ll have four pieces in total): one 10-inch (25-cm) square and one 10 x 5-inch (25 x 12½-cm) rectangle.

Place one square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.

Spread 1/3 of the buttercream over this layer.

Top with another piece of cake. Moisten these pieces with the flavoured syrup.
Spread 1/3 of the buttercream over this layer.
Place the last piece of cake top and moisten it with syrup.

Spread the remaining buttercream on top of the final layer of joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).

Serve the cake slightly chilled.

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END VERDICT - 3 stars

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This cake gets only 3 stars as an assembled cake. Separately this components yield a 4 1/2 stars. I did not like the flavors together. I had to make the almond meal because I could not find it. I was able to grind the blanched almonds into a pretty fine meal but the cake still had a nice bite to it. The cake was awesome but it definitely needed the strong flavors of the coffee and chocolate it is usually made with.

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The mousse recipe I used consist of putting gelatin in a fruit base then mixing it with light billowy whipped cream. After putting it into the refrigerator it turned into whipped cream with fruity rocks floating in it. BUT I didn't notice it until I spread the blueberry mousse on my cake, completely ruining it. I will test out a few mousse recipes then post the best one.

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Until next time

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Happy Smacking!

Blueberry Turnovers

I recently borrowed Williams-Sonoma Collection: Desserts from the library. There a lot of good recipes in this book. I have bookmarked 6 recipes and when I make them I will post about them.

First up is Blueberry Turnovers.

Blueberry Turnovers
makes 8 turnovers

1/1/4 cups (5oz/155g) blueberries
2 tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp finely grated lemon zest
pinch of salt
1 large egg, room temperature
2 tsp water

Double recipe Basic Pastry Dough, divided into 2 equal disks and chilled

Topping

2 tbsp sliced almonds (optional)
2 tsp granulated sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl toss the blueberries with the brown sugar, flour lemon juice, vanilla, zest, and salt, crushing the berries slightly with the back of a spoon, until the dry ingredients are evenly moist. Set the mixture aside.

In a small bowl, using a fork, make an egg wash by stirring together the egg and water until well blended. Set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one dough disk into a 10½-inch (27-cm) square about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Use a dough scraper or an icing spatula to loosen the pastry if it sticks. Trim away the ragged edges, removing about ¼ inch (6 mm) from each side. Repeat with the second disk. Cut each square into four 5-inch (13-cm) squares.

Spoon some of the blueberry filling onto the center of each square, dividing the filling evenly. Lightly brush the edges of the squares with some of the egg wash, then fold the dough over the filling to form triangles. Crimp the edges with tines of a fork to seal. Place on the prepared baking sheet about 1½ inches (4 cm) apart. Brush the turnovers with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle evenly with the almonds and granulated sugar, if desired. Cut 2 or 3 small slits in the top of each turnover to vent.

Bake the turnover until, golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Dough rolled, filled and ready for baking.

Baked, cooled and ready for grubbing!

END VERDICT - 4 stars

I thought these little things were yummy. I halved this recipe and made 4 turnovers. I will need to give that pastry dough another run before I give a definitive answer. I think I added too much water but it was still good. I would recommend you use fresh blueberry instead of frozen.

Until next time,
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Happy Smacking!

Daring Baker Challenge - Cheesecake Pops

Last month I joined The Daring Bakers. This is a group of awesome people who love to bake. This month we were asked to bake Cheesecake Pops. They are bites of cheesecake, stuck on lollipop sticks, then dipped chocolate. Freaking YUM! They were a big hit at work and a even bigger hit with my tummy!

Cheesecake Pops
Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey
Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionery coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

1. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 °F.
2. Set some water to boil.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.
4. Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a spring form pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes. (It actually takes more like 1 hour to bake. Just make sure you bake until the cake is firm)
5. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
6. When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.
7. When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety. (Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.)
8. Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionery chocolate pieces) as needed.Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

The yummy yummy batter

Batter in oven bath ready to go in oven

Cooling cake.....yes I HAD to taste it before it completely cooled. Freaking knee weakening good

Scooping process

It is a good idea to have a some hot water near by to rinse the spoon between scoops

Ready for the freezer

I dipped a few balls in strawberry jam but that didn't turn out good. Once it was placed in the freezer the jam stuck to the parchment paper. Oh well.

Chocolate dipping process

END VERDICT - 5 stars

The cheescake was extremely smooth and creamy and the chocolate just took it to another level. I will being making recipe again, sometime soon. Make sure you check out the what the other Daring Bakers did!

Special thanks to our hosts for the month Elle and Deborah!

Until then,
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Happy Smacking!