Green tea and white chocolate opera cake

At the April meeting of the Stamford Clandestine Cake Club, one of our male bakers (we have a few!), Simon, made a green tea and white chocolate opera cake. He has kindly shared his recipe with me. He advised that he doubled the recipe to make his masterpiece. Warning - it's a bit of a marathon!

(Also, please note, the cake is not yellow, despite how the photos look - it is green, the lighting in the pub was terrible!)

 

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites (room temperature)

43g granulated sugar

236g ground almonds

236g icing sugar (sifted)

43g matcha green tea

3 large eggs

59g cup all-purpose flour

22g tablespoon unsalted butter (melted and cooled)

Directions:

1. Line a 32cm by 40cm baking tray with  (with shallow sides) parchment and grease it with butter.

2. Beat the egg whites in a bowl until they form soft peaks.

3. Add the sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy.

4. Beat the almonds, icing sugar, matcha and eggs in another bowl until light and voluminous.

5. Add the flour and beat until the flour is just combined.

6. Fold the meringue into the almond mixture.

7. Fold in the butter.

8. Pour the batter into the pan.

9. Bake in a preheated 220C (200C fan) oven until lightly browned and just springy to the touch, about 6 to 10  minutes.

10. Run a knife along the edges to loosen the cake form the pan.

11. Cover the cake with parchment paper, flip and unmold the cake.

12. Peel off the parchments paper flip and cover the cake while it cools.

Green tea buttercream

Ingredients:

120g sugar

43g matcha

2 large egg whites

170g cups unsalted butter (at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Mix the sugar and matcha in a small bowl.

2. Whisk the sugar and matcha into the egg whites in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until the mixture is hot to the touch, about 5 minutes. (The sugar should be dissolved and the mixture should look like shiny marshmallow cream.)

3. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat until the cream is cool, about 5 minutes.

4. Beat in the butter one stick at a time.

5. Beat the mixture until it thickens and becomes smooth, about 5-20 minutes.

White chocolate ganache

Ingredients:

200g white chocolate (chopped)

35ml double cream

120ml Double cream

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate into the 35ml of double cream in a double boiler.

2. Set the ganache aside and let cool completely.

3. Whip the rest of the double cream in a large bowl.

4. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate ganache.

5. Refrigerate until used.

White chocolate glaze

Ingredients:

85g white chocolate (chopped)

60ml double cream

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate into the heavy cream in a double boiler.

2. Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the opera cake.

Assembly 

Directions:

1. Work on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

2. Cut the cake into 4 equal pieces.

3. Place 1 sheet of the cake onto the baking sheet and moisten with syrup.

4. Spread 1/2 of the buttercream over the cake.

5. Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the buttercream and moisten with syrup.

6. Spread the white chocolate ganache over the cake.

7. Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the ganache and moisten with syrup.

8. Spread the remaining buttercream over the cake.

9. Place 1 sheet of the cake on top of the buttercream and moisten with syrup.

10. Pour the glaze over the cake and smooth it out.

11. Refrigerate until it sets, about 30 minutes.

12. Trim the sides to get a smooth finish.

Click here for more about Clandestine Cake Club!

Stamford Clandestine Cake Club - beverage bakes

On Monday, April 8th, 22 members of the Stamford CCC met with 19 cakes based on the theme 'Quench your thirst'.

This month's event, held at the Bertie Arms country pub, in Uffington, just outside Stamford, was sponsored by Yorkshire Tea. We were privileged to receive Yorkshire Tea tablecloths, a teapot, lots of cups, and a massive bag of teabags. What better way to celebrate a beverage-based bake than with a refreshing cup of tea!

Our beverage bakes were a triumph. We might have shown ourselves as somewhat alcoholic bakers (there were 11 alcohol-based cakes versus 8 non-alcoholic) but each and every baker put a lot of effort into their cakes. Here's a list of our bakes:

Coke and chocolate cake - Sophie
Ginger and lager cake - Steve
Stout cake - Mel
Cider cake - Anthea
Green tea and white chocolate opera cake - Simon
Beehive black cake (Guinness) - Rhoda
Mocha marble cake - Vic
Amaretto cake - Amanda
Cider fruit cake - Vicky
Margarita cake - Lisa
Snake bite and black cake - Johannah
Earl Grey and orange cake - Lucie
Raspberry milkshake cake - Judith
Pina Colada cake - Becky
Earl Grey and lemon cake - Esme
Red wine chocolate cake - Kelly
Lemonade cake - Natalie
Coffee cake - Sarah
Coconut and rum cake - Monika

Highlights of the evening had to be Simon's spectacular many-layered green tea and white chocolate opera cake, Lisa's margarita cake (if you had a whole slice you'd be over the limit, thanks to the delicious tequila frosting!), and Amanda's amaretto cake was a popular choice, despite her thinking it was a complete disaster. Comedy moments were shared by Mel's delicious creation of 'cake fudge' (you can make that again Mel!) and Vic's beautiful mocha marble 'biscuit cake' - "It's really nice dunked in a cup of tea!" said Vic.

We all shared disaster stories, a bit of a Q&A session for those caketastrophies we've all had, and much cake was eaten by all. As enjoyable as the night itself is the morning after, catching up with everyone's Twitter feeds about 'cake hangovers'.

Thanks to everyone who came and shared the Stamford cake love. It's a brilliant place for turning strangers into friends, for finding new recipes, and taking lots of delicious cake home.

Click here for more about Clandestine Cake Clubs.