Opera cake
Opera cake (French: Gâteau opéra) is a French cake. It is made with layers of almond sponge cake (known as Joconde in French) soaked in coffee syrup, layered with ganache and coffee (or Grand Marnier) French buttercream, and covered in a chocolate glaze.
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Type | Cake |
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Place of origin | France |
Created by | Cyriaque Gavillon |
Main ingredients | Sponge cake, coffee syrup, ganache, coffee buttercream, chocolate glaze |
According to Larousse Gastronomique, "Opéra gâteau is an elaborate almond sponge cake with a coffee and chocolate filling and icing."[1]
Origin
The cake was popularized by the French pâtisserie house Dalloyau, but its origin is unclear. One creator-claimant, at Dalloyau in 1955 is Cyriaque Gavillon,[2][3] grandfather to Christelle Bernardé, current co-president,[4] and named by his wife Andrée Gavillon after the Opéra Garnier.[3]
Gaston Lenôtre (1920–2009) also claimed the honour of inventing the dessert in 1960,[5] though an advertisement in Le Gaulois in 1899 offers a "gâteau opéra".[6]
See also
- List of French desserts
- Tiramisu
Food portal
References
- Larousse Gastronomique
- Grand Larousse Gastronomique. Larousse. 2007, cited in French Wikipedia article "Dalloyau".
- "L'Opéra" (in French). Dalloyau. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
- MC de La Roche (4 March 2012). "Dalloyau au Moulin-Rouge, la fête des sens — Des petits rats de l'Opéra aux Doriss girls" [Dalloyau at the Moulin Rouge, a festival of the senses — From little rats of the Opéra to the Doriss girls]. Madame Figaro. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- Jean-Claude Ribaut (10 January 2009). "Gaston Lenôtre". Le Monde. p. 21.
Gaston Lenôtre avait revendiqué l’invention du gâteau « opéra » (biscuit et ganache au chocolat parfumé au café). Rendons à César... Le père de l’« opéra » est Cyriaque Gavillon de la maison Dalloyau. [Gaston Lenôtre has laid claim to the invention of the 'opera' cake (biscuit and ganache flavoured with chocolate coffee). Render unto Caesar ... The father of the 'opera' is Cyriaque Gavillon of maison Dalloyau. ]
- "Pâttiserie du Grand-Hôtel, 1 rue Auber. Spécialités : Gâteau Grand-Hôtel, Gâteau Opéra, Plum-cakes. Salon reservé au Five-Oclock Tea". Le Gaulois. 18 March 1899. p. 3.