O for Ooops and Opera

These days, nothing but chocolate and butter have been calling out to me. I obliterated the Crabtree & Evelyn Apothecary Shortbread Tin of cookies, working my way through the 'fingers 'first, then 'rounds' and eventually 'petticoat tails', erasing them from pre-existence on Planet Earth. Of course I should have known better than to rely on butter and caster sugar to numb out the pain of studying for my Strategy paper but they were sooo good. You would think that like after ingesting 3000-plus calories I would feel guilty... well let's just say, I wouldn't say 'no' to more. I feel like the Bermuda Triangle of Shortbread Biscuits and no shortbread will ever feel safe within 1 metre radius.

Quite by coincidence I had cake too! Le Opera Gateaux. Actually it's my first Opera though I have no idea why I took so long to discover this coffee-chocolate pastiche. This pastry has a somewhat mysterious "whodunnit" history as 3 names usually pop up when one goes in search of its creator.

Gaston Lenôtre . Louis Clichy . Dalloyau

Doesn't it sound like the storyline to "Three Men and a Baby" or Broadway's Mama Mia?



This skinny slice is from the club- just enough to tease the buds but merciful to the waistline, especially one suffering from shortbread overdose.

Layers of chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream and almond sponge cake, topped with an Opéra-inscribed glaze. One thing I noticed is how incredibly-duh the name is pipped on- perhaps in anticipation of sudden delight-induced memory lapse?

How was it in a nutshell? Well I liked it. It was "hard". I don't know if it's meant to be hard in Apply-Pressure-Here sort of way but I like "hard cakes" (I do enjoy my cakes more after leaving it in the fridge) and coffee/ chocolate has always been a winning twosome in my opinion.

People say it ain't over till the fat lady sings, I say she better stop if she wants to have her cake and eat it.