Red Velvet Opera Cake

Beautiful, delicate, sophisticated, but in my opinion ruined by the molasses. I think using molasses as a primary flavor in a dessert is risky, people either love it or they hate it. I also think molasses is one of those flavors that people don't really know, they might try, then hate. Perhaps I am being dramatic, but I was disappointing that my most visually appealing dessert made in class was my most disappointing in terms of flavor.

I love opera cake, we made it last quarter and it was one of my favorite desserts. I love the intricate layers and the European nature of the cake. I liked the idea of doing a red velvet  version. Visually, the deep read coupled with the dark chocolate would make the plated visually stimulating and sexy.  I wasn't overly impressed with the flavor in the cake, perhaps my red velvet standard have been "Americanized" I think red velvet and I need cream cheese frosting. Sad, but true and associated flavors (like red velvet and cream cheese) is absolutely something you must keep in mind when preparing a dessert menu.

My favorite part was the chocolate circle. In my opinion, it is what gave this dessert it's "wow factor". It was rather east to create, just some tempered chocolate, acetate and a cake pan. The primary components of this dessert consisted of the following:

• Flourless chocolate cake
• Molasses Ganache
• Chocolate Buttercream
• Pecan croquet 
• Candied Pecan
• Dark chocolate circle 

Production
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients: 13 1/4 oz of dark chocolate; 3 1/8 oz melted butter; 2 5/8 oz egg yolks; 1 lb 10 oz egg whites; 4 1/2 oz sugar; red food coloring

Process: Melt the chocolate and combine it with the butter and egg yolks. Whip the whites and sugar to a stiff meringue then add the red food coloring. Fold the chocolate mixture into the whipped whites and pour into a flat sheet pan (this needs to be flat, it's very important!) Bake in the convection oven at 340F for about 10 min.

Pecan Dacquose
Ingredients: 7oz toasted pecans; 7 oz powdered sugar; 8 3/4 oz egg whites; 2 3/4 oz sugar; 1/8 oz of cream of tartar

Process: Toast the pecans, then process them in a food processor and sift with the powdered sugar. Whip the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar, the fold the two mixtures together. Spread the batter on a silpat lined sheet pan and bake at 350F for 5 min.

Pecan Croquant
Ingredients: 5/8 oz pecan flour; 4 3/4 powdered fondant; 3 1/8 glucose

Process: Cook the fondant and glucose then stir in the pecan flout. Pour onto a silpat and bake until barley crispy. You must pull and mold these as soon as they are out of the oven. You literally have less than two minutes to do so. If needed, warm up the dacquose slowly in a deck oven with the door open. Do not overheat or these will turn into soup! 

Molasses Ganache
Ingredients: 4 7/8 oz milk chocolate; 4 7/8 oz milk; 6 oz molasses; 1 7/8 oz butter.

Process: Boil the milk then our it over the chocolate. Add the molasses, then the butter. NOTE be sure the mixer has cooked before adding the butter, otherwise it will become greasy.

Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients: 8 oz sugar; 2 oz water; 4 oz egg yolks; 10 oz butter; 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract; 4 oz melted chocolate

Process: Whip egg yolks and 2oz of sugar by hand over heat until the sugar melts and the yolks start to foam (3-4 min). Once the sugar has dissolved in the yolks, pour the mixture into a mixer and whip on high speed. Heat the remaining 6 oz of sugar and water to soft ball stage (240 degrees F). When the sugar has reached softball stage and the egg yolks have started to foam, gently pour the hot sugar into the whipping yolk. Mix on high speed for about 10 min or until the bowl feels to be room temperature –  NOTE: bowl will be warm from the addition of the hot sugar. 

Once the yolks have whipped and the bowl is at room temperature, start adding chunks of room temperature butter and add the vanilla. Whip on high speed until the butter cream becomes smooth. Take a small portion of the butter cream and mix it with the chocolate; gradually fold in the rest of the butter cream to incorporate all of the chocolate. 

Layer the buttercream between the dacquoise then pour the molasses ganache over the top. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before cutting.

Plating: 
I used a simple white plate to avoid taking away any attention from this bold plated dessert. The chocolate circle is very important. Be sure to use and temper high quality chocolate. Cover an acitate strip in melted chocolate and just before it is about to seize, wrap the acitate around a six inch cake pan and place in the refrigerator to cool. Once the chocolate is set, you'll have a beautiful, perfect chocolate ring. 

To plate the dessert, cut the opera cake into thin strips and place across the plate, exposing the intricate layers.  Place the pecan croquant at the end of the cake. Add a candied almond and finish with a chocolate circle.