A Sweet Note, Japanese Opera with Raspberry Coulis


Yesterday it started to get really really cold. I turned on all our heater at a maximum level but to no avail. It has been three days that Mistral has been blowing cold air in our region. Its not that its new to us but yesterday it was exceptionally cold. I was trying to search for another layer of sweater to put on me when my attention was directed towards the window. It was snowing....yes it was indeed snowing! Provence is the hottest region in France. We've been cursed with a beautiful weather and rarely bless a day full of snowflakes like this. I pulled a chair next to the window and sat there with my three month old daughter. She seemed to be mesmerized by this thousand of white stuff flowing everywhere. I could see on her eyes, she was happy. We were glued next to our window for a couple of hours.

It is in savouring happy moments like this over a cup of hot green tea that I come up with sweet composition like this.

Green Tea (Matcha) Opéra with Raspberry Coulis
Ingredients:
for the cake
130 g of sugar, 4 egg yolks, 3 egg whites, 80 g of flour, 30 g of butter, 80 of dark chocolate, 2 tsp of green tea (matcha), 80 g of white chocolate, 30 g of hazelnut
for the Raspberry Coulis
80 g of sugar, 20 cl of water, 1 tea bag of Mint-licorice, 200 g of raspberry
for the Chocolate Ganache
150 g of dark chocolate, 5 cl of fresh cream, 25 g of butter


Beat the egg whites and add 50 g of sugar. Mix the egg yolks with 80 g of sugar then fold in the flour and the melted butter. Combine the two mixture gently until it becomes smooth and homogenous. Divide this mixture into three parts. Fold in the melted dark chocolate into the first part, the green tea powder on the second and the melted white chocolate-hazelnut mixture on the last. Bake each cake on a greased pan at 200°C for about 10 to 15 minutes. For the raspberry coulis, melt the sugar with the water in a pan and infused one bag of mint-licorice. Fold in the mashed raspberries and wait until the syrup becomes thick. For the chocolate ganache, melt the dark chocolate and mix gently the butter. Pour in the fresh cream and continue mixing. For each layer of the cake put alternately a layer of the raspberry coulis and chocolate ganache. Cover the last layer with chocolate ganache. Put in the fridge the three-layered flavored cake for a minimum of one hour. Cut with a sharp knife the edges of the cake to get a smooth perfect edge.

for my french readers, you can find the french version here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/news/recette/Opera-framboise-chocolat-the-vert-et-reglisse

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a nice post :-)

Gloria Baker said...

Dhanggit this sound soo nice and delicious!! xx (how is your baby??) Gloria

Cynthia said...

Ummmm, the post makes me feel all warm and cozy :)

Ruy said...

Wow very impressive.
They're just so pretty I can stare all day.=)

KayKat said...

Ooo ... I love the flavor of green tea in any dessert - I'll bet that tastes great with the raspberry and chocolate!

Kajal@aapplemint said...

wow its snowing outside n u take the trouble to make such a wonderful looking Opera cake !!! fantastic !

Chibog in Chief said...

Grace, thanks again for dropping by

Gloria, you bet it was really good, my baby is still sleeping at the moment thats why i have the time to reply to your comments :-)

Cynthia, thanks for dropping by again

Ruy, thanks for the compliment :-)

Kaykat, i like green tea too they are subtle and yet powerful ...it blended well with raspberry and chocolate

kate, i dont see snow that often, i guess its the reason why it gave me such inspiration :-)

Analyse said...

oh really? no snow yet in dijon, but we're enjoying a frisky -4°C for 3 mornings now.. and i think it will continue till next week!

Chibog in Chief said...

Analyse, yup it did! according to my mother-in law (who is a native of Provence)its the first time it ever snowed on november :-)

K and S said...

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I'm jealous that you live in Provence! This cake looks lovely :)

Graeme said...

I have to try something like this sometime. Looks great.

Anonymous said...

Snow was just amazing, the kids and I enjoyed watching a very rare view in the south ;) !

Yummylicous, this seems to be difficult...hhhmmm but I will try!

Manggy said...

Opera, hmmm advanced skill! I love Opera cake. Unfortunately almond flour or almonds are extremely expensive here in the land of jeepneys. Your recipe skips the ingredient, so I may try it in the future!

Liz said...

Looks so good! Will have to try that recipe. And the footsies... so cute! Thanks for sharing.

Anh said...

What a beautiful recipe! I just discovered ur blog today and really love it!

Chibog in Chief said...

K&S, plenty of people tell me the same thing :-)LOL

Grame, thanks for visiting

Haze, finally you've visited me at my new kitchen :-), we need to chat more often, if my baby permits me LOL

Manggy, thanks for dropping :-)

Liza, thanks for dropping by i will check your site

Anh, thanks for dropping by too

desie said...

these are beautiful. you are so lucky to be living in such a lovely and inspiring part of the world. i hope to visit again someday soon.will definitely try your recipe.

Anonymous said...

merci at passing at my blog you just made me miss france.. i even woke up today dreaming the streets of antibes oh lala

and today i told my canadian crew i am craving for opera... oh she asked whats opera? i said something that will transport me with first class tickets to dessert heaven...

Chibog in Chief said...

Maybahay, a lot of people admire Provence..but you know sometimes for me its like when you are eating lechon everyday..you got bored and tired of it..although every summer it revives my love for it..coz it reminds me of philippines :-)

Sha, thank you too for dropping by here at my little kitchen in provence :-)

Anonymous said...

It's snowing @ Belgian Coast here... on the beach as well. It won't last long since it's not the high time yet but we have Xmas Carnivals every town in Belgium with man-made ice-skating rings with lotsa Vin Chaude :-D I envied you having great food supply en Aix-en-Provence. I'd been there and stayed with family friends and I missed a lot Calisons and fresh markets especially @ Palais de Justice... sigh.. Take care and happy holidays to you and family!