Makes: 20 slices, halve recipe to make less

Time required: 3 hours + extra time to decorate

Difficulty: ★★★☆☆

Inspiration:

Having recently watched the Zumbo Just Desserts tv show, I was inspired by some of the challenges the contestants faced … in particular the Franken-dessert and the Aussie Classics challenges. This is where the “Operington” cake comes in – the elements of an Opera Cake meet the flavours of a Lamington. I always enjoy making opera cakes because there’s so many layers and elements – which also allows for more creativity with flavours and textures

Elements for this cake:

• almond coconut sponge
• raspberry buttercream
• raspberry jam
• chocolate ganache
• raspberry soju jelly, for plating
• chocolate sauce, coconut and fresh raspberries, for plating

Ingredients:

Almond coconut sponge:

• 9 egg whites
• 100g caster sugar
• 300g almond meal
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 400g icing sugar
• 2tsp vanilla extract
• 100g plain flour
• 9 eggs
• 100g melted butter

raspberry buttercream:

• 200g raspberries
• 400g butter
• 200ml thickened cream
• 200g caster sugar
• 9 egg yolks

raspberry jam:

• 200g raspberries
• 150g sugar
• 2 gelatin leaf

chocolate ganache:

• 500g dark chocolate
• 400ml thickened cream
• 40g butter

raspberry soju jelly (optional for decorating):

• 125g raspberries
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup soju (or other alcohol)
• 8 sheet gelatin

Instructions:

Almond coconut sponge:

1. preheat oven to 200C
2. whisk egg whites with caster sugar until stiff peaks and set aside
3. in a separate bowl, whisk together the almond meal, icing sugar and desiccated coconut
4. add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined
5. sift in the flour and mix
6. carefully fold in the egg whites
7. gently fold in the butter, careful not to remove all the air in the batter
8. spread evenly over four trays (roughly 15x30cm) lined with baking paper
9. bake for 8 minutes until just cooked
10. remove from baking sheet and set aside to cool

raspberry buttercream:

1. puree raspberries and place in a pot over low heat until the sugar melts
2. whisk the egg yolks with sugar until light and fluffy
3. slowly pour in the hot raspberry while whisking the egg yolks to gently heat up the eggs without scrambling them
4. return the entire raspberry/egg mixture to low head and continue to mix until it thickens
5. in a separate bowl, beat the butter. Gradually add the raspberry/egg mixture and cream alternating while whisking until well combined

raspberry jam:

1. puree the raspberries
2. place the raspberries and sugar over low-med heat until just boiling
3. add in the bloomed gelatin and set aside to cool

chocolate ganache:

1. heat cream over med heat until just boiling
2. pour over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes
3. stir the cream/chocolate until well combined then mix i the butter

raspberry soju jelly:

1. puree the raspberries
2. place the raspberries, water and soju over medium heat until boiling
3. add in the bloomed gelatin
4. pour into a container (depending what shape you’d like the jelly) and leave in the fridge to set (at least 3 hours)

To assemble:

1. place one slice/tray of the cake on a cake board or plate
2. spread over 1/3 of the raspberry jam
3. spread 1/3 of the raspberry buttercream then place in the fridge/freezer for 10mins to slightly harden
4. spread over 1/4 of the chocolate ganache
5. cover with the next slide of cake then repeat steps 2-4 another two times
6. when all the cake/buttercream/jam layers have been used up, pour the remaining chocolate ganache over the top layer of cake
7. leave in freezer overnight to harden before slicing the cake with a hot knife … freezing the cake results in cleaner edges when slicing the cake
8. defrost the slices in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving

 

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