The iconic, classic Opera Cake! If you’ve never tried this famous cake creation, you’re in for a real treat! When you take a bite of this cake, your taste buds will be in cake heaven! This 6-layer coffee cake is made with almond sponge cake, soaked with coffee syrup and frosted with coffee buttercream! Dessert just doesn’t get any better than this!
The original French recipe requires many intricate steps, but I’ve simplified this recipe so you can easily make and enjoy this dessert at home. For the cake layers, I used my basic sponge cake recipe and added almond flour for a bit of nutty flavor. I highly recommend adding the almond flour for taste. If you don’t have it, more all-purpose flour will work in a pinch. The layers are then soaked with a Kahlua liqueur and coffee syrup, ensuring that you’ll get coffee flavor in every bite! The layers are frosted with a coffee-flavored buttercream, then topped with a simple chocolate ganache. I like to let the cake stand in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to really come together. Just take the cake out about an hour or two before enjoying to allow the cake to thaw.
The Opera Cake was created in France in 1955 by French pastry chef Cyriaque Gavillon and named after the Parisian ‘Palais Garnier’ opera house. Cyriaque wanted to create that captured the elegance and style of the city. It’s traditionally made in a rectangle shape and you can find it in just about any Parisian bakery shop!
Make sure to watch my video recipe for all the details!
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Enjoyed this recipe? You’ll love my ‘Triple Coffee Cheesecake’! https://tatyanaseverydayfood.com/recipe-items/triple-coffee-cheesecake/
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Looks delicious! Can’t wait to make it. Although, is there a different cream substitue that would work nicely? Not really a big fan of buttercream but if I have to I will 😉
For this particular cake, I do recommend sticking with the French buttercream. You could bake a cream cheese buttercream if you really want to though
My cake came out flat.. After watching your video I think it might have been because my eggs were not at room temperature..? Ive had this problem several of times when making other cake s
Hmm, did you whisk your eggs very well? That’s the biggest issue with sponge cakes. The eggs have to be very light and fluffy, otherwise the cake will fall flat.
I tried this recipe twice. Both times it fell flat. The second time I did whisk for 7 minutes. I timed it.
So sorry that the cake hasn’t turn out well for you. Make sure you are folding the flour into the egg mixture very gently; the eggs will give the cake volume
This cake is amazing!! We did find it a bit too sweet for our liking, What can I do to the soaking mixture to make it not so sweet? Should I just dilute it with more water? And what about making my own “simple syrup”? Would that work? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
If you want it to be less sweet, you can simply use a strong coffee with a touch of sugar in place of the syrup concoction! 🙂
Hi there can you use almond meal instead of flour ?
If you don’t have almond flour, you can actually use regular flour in place of the almond flour. The cake layers won’t have that nutty flavor but will still turn out great 🙂
Очень вкусный торт! Я спёк этот торт, всё получилось так как должно. Правда я зделал две порции для выпечки так как хотелось чтобы торт получился выше.
Я кофе люблю и с этим кофейным тортом было просто ям!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed my recipe! I usually make two portions also to get a tall cake! 🙂
I’ve had my eye on this cake for some time now! Looking forward to making it for easter!
Hi tanya what kind of chocolates did u put on top for decorations?
I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips 🙂
Hi Tatyana, can I use caramel syrup instead of vanilla?
Yes, caramel will taste great here, too! 🙂
This recipe is the absolute best!! Made it dozens of times for various occasions and each time it’s major hit!
Thanks a bunch!!
I’m so glad that you enjoy my recipe! Opera is one of my favorites! 🙂
Hi T, I have made this cake twice and I absolutely love it but the only problem I face is that my cake is that it caves in.
So glad you enjoy it! Hmm, is the cake falling flat while it’s in the oven? Try whisking your eggs a bit longer. That should help!
Hi T, this cake looks delicious! May I know if I can use 2 of 9 inch pans to make 4 layers instead of 3 of 8 inch pans for 6 layers?
Yes, that will work great 🙂
Oh.. Thanks so much… I will make this as a birthday cake.. It looks just delicious!
Hi T, yeah, i tried to use 2 9 inch pans to make the cake with the same recipe.. But then my cake didnt rise enough to cut into 2 layers. May i know something went wrong?
This recipe is the absolutely the BEST!!!! Made it a few times for various occasions and each time it’s major hit! Today I was asked to make it for the family reunion.
Thank you much!!!
I’m so glad you enjoy my recipe! This is one of my personal favorites, too! 🙂
Hi, this cake interested me because its made of almond flour instead of wheat-based flour. Because I am likely making it for a gluten-free person, are there any replacements for the 1/4 cup of allpurpose flour?
HI! 🙂 have you tried using a gluten-free flour? ‘Bob’s Red Mill’ makes a great product! Using almond flour alone will make the cake very fragile, the additional flour will help keep everything together a bit better 🙂
Hi tatyana …how can i make almond flour at home…is this almond crushed into a powder…
Or a meal almond available in market
Yes, essentially, it’s almonds crushed into powder. If you want to make this at home, use blanched almonds and a food processor. Most stores will carry almond meal 🙂
Would I be able to bake this in a 6-inch pan? Or would that be too risky?
Yes, that will work well, too! You’ll just have a taller cake 🙂
Tanya how do you make your simple syrup? Could I use Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing instead?
For the simple syrup, I simply combine a cup of boiling water with 1/2 cup sugar and stir until it’s dissolved. The Swiss Meringue Buttercream will work okay, or my whipped cream frosting
Holy Hannah! This cake is AMAZING!!! Tiramisu is my favorite dessert and this is a million times better. I shared your link on Facebook, I hope you don’t mind. Thanks for sharing!! ❤
Thank you so much for sharing and I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 This is one of my personal favorites!
I made just the almond sponge cake to see if making this sponge cake would good enough to have for my birthday. Good news is it is pretty darn good! However, after folding the batter when I place it on a pan, I saw that not all the flour mixture got mixed in so I had to quickly mix that in. Another is I can see from the video that you got a nice tan/fawn color while mine was yellow. Could it be the eggs I used? I get my eggs from my own chickens that are only used for laying eggs.I’m responding to this because I was wondering what I did wrong and does anyone have tips that I should try next time.
Thank you for your time and keep up the awesome work!!!
Hi! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! Just make sure to scrap from the bottom of the mixing bowl next time to make sure all the flour gets incorporated. And yes, fresh eggs from home chickens are almost always much more intense in color so it wasn’t something you did wrong! You can try whisking the eggs for longer to get the batter more pale.
Ok, I’ll do that next time. Thank you very much!!!
Hi, i love this cake. feel to do it at home.
i don’t have a mixer bowl, what can i use instead of that.
can you tell the measurements for 1 cake tray..
You can use a hand-held mixer but it will take a bit longer to get the eggs to the right consistency.
That buttercream looks absolutely divine! Can it be flavored with cocoa powder, Nutella or chocolate instead of coffee? I think it would be really good on your Ferraro Rocher cake I’m planning to make in a couple of weeks.
Yes, that would taste amazing! 🙂 love that idea!
Hi Tatyana
I love your receipes. They always are a big hit with my family.
I reside in a country where liqueur is not available. So Kahlua is out of question. Hence how do i make that syrup combination without that liqueur? Do I add equal amount of coffee and simple syrup or just substitute simple syrup for kahlua? Or is there any other option?
Hi! I’m so glad you enjoy my recipes! I hope you enjoy this one, too! A combination of coffee and simple syrup will work perfectly! 🙂
can i make this into chocolate almond cake? if yes how much cocoa powder i must use ?
Yes, just add 1/3 cup cocoa powder to the dry ingredients. No need to adjust for the ingrediets