Saying opera cake is delicious doesn’t do it justice at all. The delicate almond sponge layers – known as joconde – rich buttercream, smooth chocolate ganache, and coffee syrup make this French classic impossible to resist. It’s no wonder it ranks among the 20 French cakes you need to try at least once. If you’re keen on the details, its unique name has likely triggered your curiosity by this point. While you’ve perhaps already uncovered the mystery of what sets opera cake apart from tiramisu, there’s still one more question to answer: What’s in a name?
Opera cake — in French, “gâteau opéra” – is a symbol of elegance. It might surprise you that it didn’t come into existence until 1955. Chef Cyriaque Gavillon came up with it while experimenting at the Dalloyau Pâtisserie in Paris. He dedicated his time to crafting a cake that would leave a lasting impression on anyone who took a bite. And, that’s exactly what he did. But, since there’s a woman behind every successful man, it was his wife, Andrée, who named it.
The story goes that once Andrée tasted her husband’s rectangular creation — an unconventional cake at the time — she found it so luxurious that she compared it to the opera house Palais Garnier,, one of Paris’ most iconic monuments. Gavillon embraced the name and the rest became history.
The opera cake’s disputed origins
It wasn’t long before other pastry chefs attempted to recreate it or claim it as their own. One of them — renowned French pastry chef and founder of the Lenôtre culinary empire, Gaston Lenôtre – is still regarded as a possible creator despite allegedly coming up with his version five years later than Gavillon. There was also Louis Clichy, yet another pastry chef who claimed to have displayed a similar cake at the Paris Culinary Exhibition over four decades before Gavillon.
It isn’t clear whether Gavillon lived to see Lenôtre and Clichy’s claims debunked, but he worked tirelessly to improve his artwork over the years. He ultimately received the recognition he deserved when French newspaper Le Monde officially credited him for the cake’ creation in 1988.
Since then, opera cake has become a fan favorite. It’s almost considered a crime to visit Paris without stopping by its birthplace, where it’s still on the menu today. These days, it’s made with fine Venezuelan cocoa and dark, full-bodied Italian roast coffee. Who could possibly say no to that?
