I made this cake as an entry for Valrhona USA's first #ValrhonaBakingCompetition during isolation, which required the use of 6 staple ingredients + 1 special ingredient (with other specific rules).

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Using flours, sugars, butter, egg, dairy, and chocolate in specific amounts (or less), I came up with the idea of making an opera cake. A typical opera cake consists of an almond sponge cake, coffee syrup, dark chocolate ganache, French buttercream, and glaze. It was a good dessert that utilized all of the ingredients in different ways, but I elevated it by using all white chocolate (for a unique aesthetic) and hojicha as my special ingredient. Hojicha is a roasted green tea that has an almost savory earthiness to it, which I thought would be a nice contrast to the sweetness of the white chocolate and French buttercream.

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I initially tried to design it as a whole cake (see pictures below), but I kept messing with the piping and had to modify my plan. I turned it into a plated cake that I would imagine could be served at a French cafe in Japan (haha).

I won the Chef category of the contest which was really exciting! Valrhona chocolates, here I come!

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Joconde Sponge

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• 57 g almond flour

• 15 g cake flour

• 43 g confectioners' sugar

• 14 g unsalted butter, softened

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 whole egg, beaten

• 2 egg whites

• 14 g granulated sugar

 

1. Sift flours together with confectioners’ sugar.

2. In a mixer, cream flour mixture with butter and egg yolk.

3. Slowly add whole egg to batter to make a smooth paste.

4. Whip egg whites until frothy. Slowly stream in granulated sugar and whip until medium peaks form.

5. Mix 1/3 of the meringue into the base batter to lighten texture.

6. Gently fold remaining meringue into batter just until combined  .

7. Spread batter evenly into a parchment-lined 9x13-in. baking pan (or ¼-sheet pan).

8. Bake in 375°F oven until center of cake springs back when touched. Do not overbake.

 

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Hojicha Ganache

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• 125 g heavy cream

• 8 g Hojicha loose tea leaves

• 125 high-quality white chocolate
   

1. Bring heavy cream to a simmer.

2. Remove from heat and add hojicha leaves. Cover and steep 10 minutes.

3. Strain out hojicha leaves, squeezing out as much liquid from the leaves as possible. Supplement cream lost from steeping to total cream weight 125g.

4. Bring hojicha cream to a boil 6. Pour over white chocolate. Whisk to emulsify.

5. Chill ganache until solid.

6. Whip 1/4 of the ganache until color just starts to lighten (should be almost fluid but spreadable).

7. Whip remaining ganache to soft peaks right before assembly.

 
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Hojicha Milk 

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• 200 g milk

• 10 g hojicha loose tea leaves (can re-steep the ones form the ganache)

 

1. Bring milk to a simmer.

2. Add hojicha leaves. Cover and steep 10 minutes.

3. Strain leaves, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Cool
   (Will use this for French Buttercream, Dark Chocolate Ganache, and soaking cake layers) .

 

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French Buttercream 

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• 2 egg yolks

• 45 g Hojicha Milk (above)

• 60 g granulated sugar

• 99 g unsalted butter, softened and cubed

 

1. Whisk together yolks, hojicha milk, and granulated sugar over double boiler until pale and fluffy and sugar has dissolved.

2. Whip on high speed until sabayon has cooled to room temperature, then slowly add pieces of butter. Continue to whip until fully combined and fluffy .

 

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Optional plating components:

Dark Chocolate Ganache 

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• 20 g high-quality dark chocolate

• 20 g Hojicha Milk (above)

 

1. Chop chocolate into small pieces.

2. Gently microwave chopped chocolate and hojicha milk together until chocolate is melted, about 10 seconds at a time.

3. Whisk to emulsify.

4. Set aside to cool to room temp.

 

Chantilly Cream 

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• 150 g heavy cream

• 15 g confectioners' sugar

 

1. Whip cream and sugar together to soft-medium peak (depending on decoration).

 
 
Assembly

 

1. Cut joconde sponge into 4 columns (roughly 9 x 2.75-inch each).

2. Lightly soak one layer of sponge with hojicha milk. Spread 1/3 of the soft-peak hojicha ganache in an even layer over the sponge. Spread ¼ of the French buttercream over the ganache.

3. Repeat with next two layers. (At this point, will have used up 3 cake layers, all soft-peak ganache, and ¾ of buttercream).

4. For the last (top) layer, soak with hojicha milk. Spread a thinner layer of French buttercream over the sponge.

5. With the softer hojicha ganache (almost fluid but spreadable), spread an even layer of “icing” over the top of the cake. Can decorate cake as a whole or a slice.

6. Freeze cake until solid.

7. Trim off all four sides of the cake to make it even.

8. Decorate cake as a whole or cut into slices and decorate individually (optional).

 
For Plating the Cake

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1. Decorate plate with the dark chocolate ganache.

2. Add 1 slice opera cake and some Chantilly cream.

3. Add chocolate décor on the plate with melted white or dark chocolate (optional).