Opera Torte

I. Joconde/Almond Spongecake
3 SHEETPANS BAKED IN VERY THIN LAYERS.
EGGS	16
SUGAR	16 OZ.
EGG WHITES	16 OZ.
CREAM OF TARTAR	1 1/4 tsp.
SUGAR	5.5 OZ.
ALMOND FLOUR or ground nuts	21 OZ.
PASTRY FLOUR - sifted	5.5 OZ
BUTTER - melted & cooled	5.5 OZ.
METHOD: SEPARATION EGG FOAMING METHOD 1) Grease & flour parchment well, or use a silicon mat. 2) Combine 16 whole eggs with 16 oz. sugar. Warm mixture to 120F over a simmering water bath. Whip on 3rd speed until fully volume is reached; about 10 minutes. 3) Whip whites with the cream of tartar till soft peaks; then slowly add 5.5 oz. of sugar and whip till firm peaks. 4) Sift together the flour and almond flour. 5) ** Carefully fold-in the dry ingredients, while alternating with the meringue into the egg foam. 6) Remove about 2 cups of the batter and place in a bowl. Add the melted butter to this, and blend together till just combined. Now carefully fold this back into the egg foam. 7) Spread evenly and thinly over the prepared sheetpans. 8) Bake @ 400 degrees until lightly golden brown, but not dry; about 7 minutes. 9) Slide the joconde off the sheetpan onto a cooling rack. While still warm, invert joconde and loosen the parchment - but do not remove. Reinvert. Allow to cool and cover to prevent drying.

II. Mocha Italian Butter Cream
II. MOCHA ITALIAN BUTTERCREAM 1-2-3
EGG WHITES	1#
CREAM OF TARTAR	1/2 TSP.
SUGAR	2#
WATER	8 OZ.
BUTTER - very soft	3#
LEMON JUICE	2 TSP.
VANILLA EXTRACT	1/2 OZ.
MOCHA PASTE	2 OZ.
METHOD: ITALIAN MERINGUE 1) Place sugar and water together in a pot. Place over medium heat, and stir till sugar is dissolved. Raise heat to high and cook till 240F. Washing down sides of pot with water throughout this process. 2) At 230F begin whipping egg whites and cream of tartar, whip them to soft peaks. 3) When the sugar reaches 240F slowly begin pouring the hot sugar syrup into the soft peak egg whites. * Machine is on 2nd speed! After all the sugar is added, turn machine up to 3rd speed, and whip till cool - this takes about 30 minutes. 4) Separately cream the butter, lemon juice and vanilla extract till light and soft. BUTTER CREAM 5) Slowly add the creamed butter to the meringue. With the machine running on 2nd speed using the whip. After the butter is all added, turn the machine up to 3rd speed for about 5 minutes, until light and airy. 6) Add mocha paste to taste, and whip again till smooth.

III. Coffee Simple Syrup
III. COFFEE SIMPLE SYRUP
Very Strong Coffee	16 oz.
Water	8 oz.
Sugar	6 oz.
Brandy	2 oz.
METHOD: Boil together water and sugar, stirring till dissolved. Remove from heat when it comes to a boil. Slowly stir in sugar syrup into coffee, until a slightly sweet coffee mixture is achieved. Then add brandy. Reserve for soaking cake layers.

IV. Ganache Filling
IV. GANACHE FILLING
Sweet-Semi Chocolate	12 oz.
Heavy Cream	8 oz.
Butter	2 oz.
Kaluha	1 oz.
METHOD: Chop chocolate finely. Scald heavy cream and butter. Pour over chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth. Stir in Kaluha. Allow to thicken at room temperature. Stirring occasionally until a spreadable consistency is reached. Reserve until needed, rewarm if ganache cream becomes too firm to spread.

V. Special Opera Glaze
V. SPECIAL OPERA GLAZE
Coating Chocolate	16 oz.
Couverture Semi-Sweet Chocolate	7 oz.
Vegetable Oil	2.5 oz.
METHOD: Heat together all ingredients slowly over a simmering water bath. Stirring until 105F is reached. Hold and reserve at this temperature, until ready to use.

OPERA TORTE BUILDING PROCEDURE

* Take the first sheet of Joconde (I) and apply a very very thin layer of coating chocolate to the top. * Allow to set, then flip over the sheet of cake onto a clean parchment lined sheetpan. This now becomes the bottom of the cake, or the foot. * Soak with Coffee Simple Syrup (III). Spread on a layer of Mocha Butter Cream (II) * Top with a second layer of Joconde (I). * Soak with Coffee Simple Syrup (III). * Spread on a layer of Ganache (IV). * Top with a third layer of Joconde (I). * Soak with Coffee Simple Syrup (III). * Spread on a layer of Mocha Butter Cream (II). Make this very smooth and even. * Place the Opera Torte in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will allow the butter cream to firm, and make it ready for the glazing procedure. * Working quickly, remove the Opera Torte from the refrigerator, pour the warm special opera (V) glaze on top of the firmed butter cream, and spread quickly with only a couple of swipes. The glaze begins to set very quickly, so don't continue to spread the glaze or it will become marred. Shaking the sheetpan will cause the glaze to spread evenly and result in a smooth finish look. * Chill in the refrigerator. Remove , and slice into 1-1/2" strips by 2" lengths. * Using Writing Chocolate or thickened tempered chocolate, complete the cake, by writing OPERA on each portion. Place in paper cups.