Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Daring Bakers May Challenge - Opera Cake

The lovely founders of the Daring Baker Empire, Ivonne and Lis, chose the challenge for the month of May along with two new members Fran and Shea. In true DB style, they decided on the Opera cake - a three layer almond jaconde, layered with buttercream, mousse and chocolate glaze. In true Canadian Baker style, I left this cake to the last two days before the clock struck midnight. Good thing I gave myself the extra day because I needed it.

After having completed the cake, I can say that if you tackle all the components one by one, you'll be fine. I had never baked a cake in a jelly roll pan before and was eager to see how it would turn out. I pulled it off without a hitch which was quite gratifying.

Assembling the cake is not difficult either. Each layer of cake is brushed with soaking liquid and covered with buttercream. Unfortunately I didn't buy enough white chocolate to complete the ganache/mousse layer so I topped my cake with strawberry buttercream and a white chocolate glaze. My glaze dripped down the sides of the cake whereas I have seen some cakes by uber-talented DBers with nary a drip in sight. I guess I need to practice!

Overall, I'm happy that I made this cake. It challenged me and when making a new type of dessert with different techniques I'm never sure if I'm doing it right until I'm finished. Well, its not the most polished cake but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Definitely edible and sweet, sweet sweet!

To see the complete recipe, visit Cream Puffs in Venice and to see all the amazing, different and imaginative cakes by the DB army, check out the blogroll.

27 comments:

Sara said...

oh so pretty! i love the delicate pink color!

Mandy said...

your opera cake turns out well. The pink hue that strawberry buttercream imparts is lovely. :)

Andrea Meyers said...

Oh my goodness, that pink buttercream is so pretty! The strawberries were a perfect choice. Nicely done!

Thistlemoon said...

I think the drips are sexy! :)
You did a great job and it is a beauty!

creampuff said...

Beautiful, Jen!

Anonymous said...

I love how pink your filling is. Lovely cake and nice job for the first jelly roll cake.

Madeleine said...

The pink of the buttercream it's so pretty!!!

Great job!

Jenny said...

I like the drips, they go nicely with your cake.

Dolores said...

I'm sitting here at work wishing I could have a piece of your cake. I also approached it as individual components so I didn't get overwhelmed...but I left the final assembly for this evening. Hope mine tastes a tenth as good as yours looks!

glamah16 said...

So pretty, so summer. I love the color.

Shelby said...

I love the pink! Looks great!

jasmine said...

What a lovely cake--really like the strawberries on top and in the cream.

j

Anonymous said...

what a great job you did! your buttercream looks amazing.

jennifer
www.oyecookie.com

Dharm said...

nicely done! I like the colours and yes, it certainly was a delicious cake!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Very pretty! I love the way you flavored it!

Cheers,

Rosa

aisha said...

Your cake looks great! I debated using strawberries in the buttercream but I was too scared to mess with the intricate recipe! Congrats on a challenge well done!

Renee said...

Very beautiful! You don't see drips on some cakes because people cut off the sides ;)

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a beautiful job on your cake. I love the color and the look of the strawberry buttercream.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

giz said...

All I can say is Go-jus...simply beautiful. It's a pretty impressive thing to make isn't it and yours looks so lovely.

Morven said...

Your cake is absolutely fab-wah dahling! and I love your plate too.

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks wonderful and I love that plate too. I wished I had a square plate to put mine on, instead I used a baking sheet. It didn't look as nice as it could have.

Anonymous said...

Can't beat strawberries and cream! Looks lovely.

Deborah said...

Wonderful job! It looks so tasty!

Anonymous said...

Love the look! Nice job.

Fruit tart said...

I love the flavor combination and the pink is so pretty! And I'm so jealous that you have the perfect plate to present it! ;)

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

I love the square shape!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

michelle @ thursday night smackdown said...

the pink filling - so pretty! and nice plate.