A love for music and cake

I have spend the past several weeks trying to digitize my music collection so that I can finally get rid of the over 400 cds that I have been toting around for the past 16 years.  Some cds make me wonder what in world was I thinking when I purchased them (um, Paris Hilton...really? BUT... In my defense, the cd does have a couple of catchy songs)  ...and others bring a feeling of nostalgia (Was it really 1994 when I purchased Greenday's Dookie album?)  Just like my music collection has some hits and some misses so did the cakes that we prepared in school.  Since I have been surrounding myself with music, it seemed perfectly fitting that the two cakes I made this week were inspired by music...

The first cake we prepared was the Opera Cake.  Let me tell you...if Opera music sounded like this cake tasted, I would be an instant fan!  While there is some conflicting information online about the history of this cake, I learned that it was made in honor of the Paris Grand Opera House.  

This was the first time that I have had to write on my cake, so I did take a little time to practice spelling out "opera" and not "Oprah."  According to Chef, someone has done it before and I sure did not want to be that person...

Underneath the top layer, commonly referred to as Opera Glaze, are 3 layers of coffee soaked joconde sponge cake, 2 layers of coffee french buttercream, a layer of ganache, and 1 layer of thin chocolate.  An interesting fact about the Opera Glaze is that it is made up of dark chocolate chips and a small amount of vegetable oil.  Combining the two creates a glaze that allows for a clean and easy cut through the cake layers.   I adore chocolate and love coffee, but when these two are combined it sends my heart racing...and not because of the caffeine! 

As for the Dobos Torte, the cake gets its name from it's inventor Pastry Chef Jozsef C. Dobos.  Apparently this cake was modern for its time.  This five layered cake with chocolate buttercream between each layer was unlike any other cake in Europe.  During the late 1800s most cakes were filled with whipped creams or pastry cream (i.e. Bavarian Creme Cake).

The story behind the  caramelized coated slices is that it was used to help preserve the cake and seal in some of the moisture.  Oddly enough, the original cake did not have the sides of the cake covered.  I think seeing the separate layers is interesting, but I felt that the cake looked unfinished.  

So...after taking these pictures I decided to use the remaining chocolate buttercream to cover the rest of the cake and coat it with slivered almonds.  

Many people say that the Dobos Torte resembles a drum.  I can't see the association, but some of you may.  Ultimately it didn't matter if I liked Opera or drums, these cakes just were cute and fun to make.  The best part is that I was able to make them both faster than I can modernize my music collection...