Ian's Vanilla Opera Cake

Join the brilliant Ian Cumming (GBBO contestant from series 6) live from Cambridge who will teach you the skills you need master his Vanilla Opera Cake. A popular French layer cake with soft almond jaconde sponge, tart raspberry jam, smooth dark chocolate ganache and a rich French buttercream. A true patisserie classic. 

This class takes place on Sunday 26th February 2023 at the following times:

9am PT / 11am CT / 12pm ET / 5pm UK GMT

Please allow up to 2 hours for this class.

Bake With A Legend Online Classes are an interactive experience, where we limit group sizes to around 20 to ensure an intimate online setting. Not only do you have your celebrity baker teaching you, but you also have one of our brilliant Bake With A Legend hosts who will ensure the smooth running of your experience ensuring everyone is enjoying themselves.

If you need any help at any point during the class, you’ll be encouraged to raise your hand and your baker will be virtually joining you in your own kitchen in no time to assist you!

You’ll bake along in tandem with Ian, learning many tips and tricks a long the way as you perfect all the skills required to make Ian's delicious and fancy Vanilla Opera Cake. Ian will also be on hand to answer your questions, be those about baking or his experiences of being involved on such an iconic television show.

Tickets are priced at £35 for individuals and £50 for groups of two or more that will join from the same screen. Please note we can accept requests to move classes with two or more weeks notice prior to the class – any requests to do so, will incur a £5 administrative charge.

Once booked in, all guests will be emailed a full recipe and the zoom link required to join us for the class. Just in case you don’t spot it please check junk mail!

Equipment:

Small Saucepan 

Thermometer 

(digital) Scales 

Sieve

Spatulas 

Mixing Bowls 

Baking Parchment 

Pastry Brush

Large Knife 

Offset or Cranked Spatula 

Wire Cooling Rack 

Chopping Board

2 - 9x13-inch Baking Trays (if you have 3 – 8-inch square even better!)

Electric Whisk (ideally a stand mixer) if you have a hand whisk too this would be ideal

Ingredients:

For the Sponge:

5 Large Eggs (XL eggs in US)

140g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) Ground Almonds/Almond Flour

140g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) Icing/Powdered Sugar    

30g (¼ cup) Plain/All-purpose Flour

30g (1 ½ tbsp) Caster/Superfine Sugar    

5 Large Egg Whites (XL eggs in US) - save the yolks

30g (2 tbsp) Melted Unsalted Butter   

Pinch of Salt

For the Chocolate Base:

70g (approx 1/2 cup) Dark Chocolate

Raspberry Jam

200g (approx. 1 ½ cups) Raspberries - fresh or frozen

130g (⅔ cup) Caster / Superfine Sugar

For the Chocolate Ganache:

150g (approx. 1 cup) Dark Chocolate (70%)  

150g (⅔ cup) Double/Heavy Cream

30g (1 ½ tbsp) Golden/Corn Syrup  

 30g (2 tbsp) Unsalted Butter

For the Vanilla French Buttercream:

5 Egg Yolks

150g (¾ cup) Caster / Superfine Sugar

3tbsp Water

2tsp Vanilla Paste

250g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) Unsalted Butter (at room temp)

For the Chocolate Glaze:

200g (approx 1 1/4 cups) Dark Chocolate 

2 tbsp Vegetable (Canola) Oil

To Decorate:

Approx. a dozen Raspberries

If you have any questions regarding this class or anything concerning our online classes, please email us at bookings@bakewithalegend.com.

To see all our other classes which are currently on sale, please click here.

Please note we do also offer private events where you can choose which baker you’d like to teach you and what you bake - please click here for more information.

It is your responsibility to check the ingredients do not impact any allergies or intolerances which you may have. Bake With A Legend and our bakers take no responsibility in this regard. If you're in any doubt about you then you should contact us before booking in terms of discussing alternative ingredients to suit your requirements. We will, wherever possible provide alternatives to include gluten & dairy free options.