Paleo Opera Cake

• Refrigerated

  • 13 Egg white from large egg

• Canned Goods

  • 1 cup Coconut milk, full-fat

• Condiments

  • 605 1/4 g Cacao spread, organic raw
  • 1/2 cup Honey, raw

• Baking & Spices

  • 400 g Almond flour
  • 50 g Coconut flour
  • 1 tsp Cream of tartar
  • 3/4 tsp Himalayan salt
  • 2 pinch Himalayan salt
  • 170 1/8 g Lard
  • 100 g Tapioca starch
  • 1 Vanilla bean
  • 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract, pure

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 1/4 cup Macadamia nut oil

• Drinks

  • 5 tbsp Instant coffee, powder

• Dairy

  • 1/2 cup Ghee
  • 743 1/2 g Ghee

• Liquids

  • 13 tbsp Water

• Other

  • 4+4 large eggs
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup (Grade B or Canada Medium

Found on thehealthyfoodie.com

Description

Ingredients

• 400g (3-2/3 cups) almond flour, sifted
• 100g (1 cup) tapioca starch, sifted
• 50g (1/2 cup) coconut flour, sifted
• ¼ tsp Himalayan salt
• ½ cup raw honey
• 4+4 large eggs
• ¼ cup melted ghee
• 8 egg whites from large eggs
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 250g [9oz] organic raw cacao paste, finely chopped
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk
• ½ cup pure maple syrup (Grade B or Canada Medium)
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 1 pinch Himalayan salt
• ¼ cup melted ghee
• 5 egg whites from large eggs
• ¾ cup pure maple syrup (Grade B or Canada Medium)
• 375g [13oz] ghee, at room temperature
• 85g [3oz] lard
• ½ tsp Himalayan salt
• 1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (or make your own)
• 3 tbsp instant coffee powder
• 1 tbsp boiling water
• ½ cup pure maple syrup (Grade B or Canada Medium)
• ¾ cup water
• 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
• 100g (3.5oz) organic raw cacao paste, finely chopped
• ¼ cup macadamia nut oil
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup (Grade B or Canada Medium)
• 1 pinch Himalayan salt

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 450F
• Grease a 13 x 18 rimmed baking sheet with coconut oil and then line it with a piece of parchment paper that fits snuggly inside it. Make sure that the parchment paper adheres evenly to the entire surface, especially around the edges.
• Combine the almond flour, tapioca starch, coconut flour, salt, honey and 4 eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until well combined; the batter will be rather thick and sticky at this point. Add 4 more eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated between each addition, and then keep mixing on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until the batter gets slightly emulsified and much lighter in color.
• Transfer to a large bowl, delicately fold in the melted ghee with a rubber spatula and set aside.
• Quickly wash the bowl of your stand mixer and switch to the whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until the meringue becomes light and fluffy and stiff peaks form, about 4 to 5 minutes.
• With a rubber spatula, delicately fold this meringue into the flour and egg batter previously reserved.
• Using an offset spatula, spread half of this batter as evenly as possible onto the reserved cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the top turns golden brown.
• Turn this cake over onto a cooling rack or clean tea towel as soon as it comes out of the oven but do not remove the parchment paper just yet.
• Let the baking sheet cool for a minute or two, then line it with parchment paper again then spread the remaining cake batter and bake and flip onto a cooling rack or towel like you did with the first cake.
• Chop the cacao paste very, VERY finely and place it in a medium sized mixing bowl.
• Bring the maple syrup, coconut milk, salt and scraped vanilla seeds to a slow simmer over medium heat. (You can also throw the empty pod in there to infuse more flavor; just make sure you remove it when you pour this over your chocolate)
• As soon as the creamy mixture starts to simmer, pour it over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt.
• Stir very delicately until the chocolate is completely melted and the ganache becomes smooth. Add the melted ghee and stir again very delicately until just combined. Do not over stir, as ganache tends to separate when prepared with coconut milk. If that should happen, just give it a quick whizz with a stick blender; it’ll become super smooth and silky again.
• Let your ganache rest and thicken until it has a consistency similar to that of soft cream cheese. This could take up to a couple of hours, depending on the ambient temperature.
• While that ganache is resting, let’s get working on the buttercream.
• Add the egg whites to the bowl of your stand mixer equipped with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes, just to incorporate a little bit of air into them.
• Meanwhile, bring the maple syrup to a boil over high heat and allow it to boil vigorously until it reaches 250F (120C) on a candy thermometer, about 5 to 8 minutes.
• Start the egg whites on high and while the motor is running, pour the hot maple syrup down the side of the bowl in a slow, steady stream, being careful not to hit the beater with that syrup. Once all the syrup has been incorporated, continue beating on high for 2 more minutes, then lower the speed to medium-high and continue whisking until the meringue completely cools down, about 10 to 12 minutes.
• Lower the speed to medium and, with the motor is still running, add the ghee and lard to the meringue, about a quarter of a cup at a time, allowing it to fully incorporate between each addition. Once all the ghee has been added, crank up the speed to high and let the buttercream fluff up and tighten for about 2 minutes. In the meantime, dilute the instant coffee powder in the boiling water.
• Lower the speed once again and add the coffee extract you just made, about a teaspoon at a time, then mix on high speed one final time for about 30 seconds.
• Your buttercream is now ready to use, but if you find it to be a little bit too soft, you can chill it for 10 to 15 minutes and then give it a good whip to make it pliable again.
• If you chill it for too long, it may become too firm and might separate when you try to whip it. If that happened to you, don’t fret. Simply heat your buttercream slightly by placing the bowl VERY BRIEFLY over a double boiler, and then give it a good whisk on medium to high speed. If it’s still not soft enough, return the bowl to the double boiler for a few more seconds and then try whisking it again. Repeat as many times as necessary, but always keep the double boiler sessions very brief. You wouldn’t want that buttercream to completely melt.
• Bring the maple syrup and water to a boil over medium heat. Stir in instant coffee powder and let this syrup simmer for a minute then kill the heat and set aside.
• Grab one of the cake sheets and remove the parchment paper. Cut the cake exactly in half crosswise and place one of the halves on a large cake board or inverted cookie sheet. Brush the cake generously with coffee syrup over its entire surface. Don’t be afraid to go liberally with the syrup; the cake will soak it all up and will be that much moister as a result. Make sure you have enough for all 4 cakes, though…
• Now mound about half of the coffee buttercream right in the center of the cake and spread it thinly and evenly, all the way to the edge.
• Place the other half of the cake over this layer and again, brush generously with the coffee syrup. Then, mound about ⅔ of the ganache right in the center of the cake and spread evenly all the way to the edge.
• Repeat the process with the other cake sheet; remove parchment paper, cut in half crosswise, add one of the halves over the 2 layers already in place, brush with syrup, spread the rest of the buttercream and then add the final layer, topped with the rest of the ganache this time (you might want to save a couple of tablespoons of both the buttercream and ganache to decorate the cake).
• Smooth the top as best as you possibly can and send your cake to the fridge to firm up completely, at least 2 hours, but preferably 4 to 6 hours.
• Melt the cacao paste with the macadamia oil in the microwave in 30 second intervals and stir well for an equal amount of time between each session until it’s completely melted. About 3 to 4 sessions should do the trick.
• When the chocolate is fully melted, add the maple syrup and pinch of salt and stir delicately until smooth.
• Pour that chocolate glaze slowly right in the center of your cake and then spread it all the way to the edge. Don’t worry if it goes over a little bit, you’ll be cutting that out later. However, try to make that top as smooth and straight as possible. Every little defect will show once the chocolate sets.
• Send the cake back to the fridge until completely set, ideally about an hour.
• Take the cake out of the fridge and carefully trim out the edges with a long serrated knife
• Transfer your cake to a clean board and decorate the top with the reserved ganache and buttercream.
• Let the cake sit at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours prior to serving. If you served it cold, the ganache and buttercream would be very firm and would not melt in your mouth the way they’re supposed to.

Nutrition