Name: Gâteau Opéra
Yield: Serves 9–12
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons Frangelico hazelnut liqueur (optional); 4 tablespoons water; 150 g (5 oz) softened butter, at room temperature; 2 medium eggs; 150 g (5 oz) caster sugar; 50 ml (2 fl oz) double cream; 100 g (4 oz) unsalted butter; 200 g (7 oz) plain chocolate; 1 dessertspoon strong coffee flavouring (Camp); White Chocolate Coffee Ice-cream; 300 ml (½ pint) strong fresh or instant coffee; 4 egg yolks; 100 g (4 oz) Nutella hazelnut paste; 225 ml (7 fl oz) double cream, whipped to soft peaks; 50 g (2 oz) caster sugar; 9 egg whites (3 per sponge); 275 g (10 oz) strong plain chocolate, melted; 9 egg yolks (3 per sponge); 85 ml (3 fl oz) hot water; 225 ml (7½ fl oz) double cream; 375 g (13 oz) plain chocolate, chopped; 185 g (generous 6 oz) caster sugar; 4 heaped teaspoons coffee granules

Preparation info

Serves
9–12

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New British Classics

By Gary Rhodes

Published 1999

About

A French name and a French concept, but I couldn’t resist including this gâteau, which is a chocoholic’s dream, with lots of layers and lots of chocolate.

There are quite a few ingredients involved but it’s all relatively simple to put together. It’s made in a 25 cm (10 in) square cake tin and served as a dessert, but it can be made in a large round tin and presented as a cake.

A scroll of white chocolate and coffee ice-cream sits on top of the cake and a trickle of coffee s