After tasting so many of Nicolas’ wonderful creations, I was struck by his incredible ability to merge flavours effortlessly, but with so many wonderful combinations to choose from, what is his favourite?  “We received a sample from a world-renowned French chocolate maker,  Valhrona, it is a blond chocolate couverture made with muscovado sugar from Mauritius. I simply made an emulsion with the ganache by adding some red chilli, a fresh fruit caramelized compote made of mango, pineapple and banana with a thin layer of yuzu jelly and lime zest. ”  *taste buds explode, brain explodes, tummy grumbles*

Okay, okay but how can we be like him? How do we channel our inner pastry chef at home? "Perseverance" he says, "Set yourself a goal and then keep practicing until you achieve it". How about taking his advice and tackling one of Nicolas’ recipes? Like this Opera slice which was my favourite of all his desserts! It consists of layers of sponge, coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache. 

OPERA CAKE SLICE

by Nicholas Durousseau

Serves 8

Sponge

25g butter

125g ground almonds

145g castor sugar

4  whole eggs

3 egg whites

Coffee Syrup

110ml water

100g sugar

2 tsp instant coffee powder

Coffee Buttercream

25ml water

90g sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp instant coffee

1/2 vanilla pod, deseeded

170g butter, cubed

Chocolate Ganache

20g butter

80g 70% dark chocolate

40ml milk

10ml cream

To make the sponge, preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celcius. Melt the butter in a pan and allow to cool. Combine the ground almonds in a separate bowl along with half the sugar and the whole eggs. Mix in the cooled butter. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks then gradually add the sugar and whip until stiff peaks.  Gently fold into the almond mixture in 3 batches. Take a large sheet of baking paper and use a ruler to outline a 30cm by 20cm rectangle then flip the baking paper over. Place the baking paper on a large baking sheet and spray generously with cooking spray. Gently spread the mixture out about 5mm thick on the sheet of baking paper (keeping within the lines of the rectangle) and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly golden in colour. Make the syrup by combining all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bringing it to the boil for 1 minute. Take off the heat and cool. Set aside. For the buttercream, make the syrup by bringing the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over a medium-heat until the syrup reaches 118 degrees Celcius on a thermometer. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites together on a low speed until soft peaks form. Increase the speed to high and pour the hot syrup in a steady stream. Sprinkle in the coffee powder along with the vanilla seeds and drop the butter in, cube-by-cube, until all of it has been fully incorporated. To make the chocolate ganache, roughly chop the chocolate into medium-sized pieces. Bring the milk and cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate, allow to sit for 2 minutes then stir to combine. Mix the butter in and allow to cool.

To assemble: Slice the sponge into three equal parts, these will make up the layers of the opera. Dab the coffee syrup gently onto the sponge slices using a pastry brush. Evenly spread half of the coffee butter cream on top the first layer of sponge then add the second layer and spread half the ganache over. Add the final layer of sponge and spread the rest of the buttercream evenly then spread the rest of the ganache over the buttercream. Allow to set before trimming the edges neatly. Once set, slice the opera into 10cm by 3cm rectangles.